Meeting of the Baltimore County Board of Education - January 13, 2026

001This is Chairwoman Jane Lter. I call to order the meeting of the board of education of Baltimore County for Tuesday, January 13, 2026. This evening's board of education meeting is being broadcast through the BCPS online live meeting broadcast and on BCPS TV, Comcast Exfinity channel 1073 and Verizon FiOS channel 34. In order to efficiently conduct this meeting, all voting items this evening will be done by roll call vote. May I have a motion to go into the closed session as permitted by the open meetings act as found in the annotated code of Maryland general provisions article 3-305 B1 B7 and B8 to discuss the appointment employment assignment promotion discipline demotion compensation removal resignation or performance evaluation of appointees employees or officials over whom it has jurisdiction or any other personnel matter that affects one or

002more specific individuals. Consult with counsel to obtain legal advice and consult with staff, consultants, or other individuals about pending or potential litigation. So move Stleski. Thank you. Is there a second? Second, Dominowski. Thank you. May I have a roll call vote, please? Miss Hen, yes. Miss Fmpong. Miss Harvey, yes. Miss Abe, yes. Miss Dleski, yes. Dr. Seavoy, yes. Mr. McMillian, yes. Miss Pumphrey. Mr. Young? Yes. Miss Dominowski? Yes. Miss Lter? Yes. Thank you. Good evening. This is Chairwoman Jane Lter. I now call to order the meeting of the board of education of Baltimore County for Tuesday, January 13, 2026. I invite you to recite the pledge of allegiance to the flag to be led by Miss Foresight Onambe. We will then have a moment of silence in recognition of those who have served education in

003Baltimore County. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for its one nation, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Tonight's board of education meeting is being broadcast through the BCPS online live meeting broadcast and on BCPS TV Xfinity channel 1073 and Verizon Fios channel 34. In order to efficiently conduct this meeting, all voting items this evening will be done by roll call vote. The first item on the agenda is the consideration of the January 13th agenda. Are there any additions or changes to tonight's agenda? Mr. Young. Yes, Mr. Lector. I move to add contract RBE-802-26 Edgemir Elementary School deed of easement to the to the agenda as item L24. Thank you. Is there a second? Second, Stellleski. Thank you. Is there any discussion? May I have a

004roll call vote, please? Miss Hen, yes. Miss Harvey, yes. Miss Aumbbe, yes. Miss Dleski, yes. Dr. Seavoy, yes. Mr. McMillian, yes. Miss Pumphrey, yes. Mr. Young, yes. Miss Dominowski, yes. Miss Leicter, yes. Thank you. The revised agenda is approved. And the agenda stands as now presented. Earlier this evening, the board met in close session pursuant to the open meetings act for the following reasons to discuss the appointment, employment, assignment, promotion, discipline, demotion, compensation, removal, resignation, or performance evaluation of appointees, employees, or officials over whom it has jurisdiction or any other personnel matter that affects one or more specific individuals. Consult with council to obtain legal advice and consult with staff, consultants or other individuals about pending or potential litigation. The closed session summary and the open session information summary can be found on board docs

005under the board meeting agenda date. The next item on the agenda is personnel matters and for that I call on Mr. McCall. Good evening, Chair Licer, Vice Chair Harvey, Superintendent Dr. Rogers, and me board. I'd like the board's consent for the following personnel matters tonight. We have retirements, resignations, leaves, and educator lensure appointments. Thank you. Do I have a motion to approve the personnel matters as presented in exhibits D1 through D4? So, move Young. Thank you. Do I have a second? Second, Harvey. Thank you. Any discussion? May I have a roll call vote, please? Miss Ham, yes. Miss Harvey, yes. Miss Abe, yes. Missky, yes. Dr. Seavoy, yes. Mr. McMillian, yes. Miss Pumphrey, yes. Mr. Young, yes. Mr. Manowski, yes. Miss Leicter, yes. Thank you. Our next item is public comment. This is one of

006the opportunities the board provides to hear the views and receive the advice of community members. If not selected to address the board, members of the public may submit their comments to the board members via email at bebbcps.org. The Baltimore County Police Department's Homeland Security Unit and Office of School Safety has recommended safety and security protocols, which are posted in the boardroom and available in board docs and on the board's participation by the public website. While we encourage public input on policy, programs, and practices within the purview of this board and this school system, this is not the proper forum to address specific student or employee matters or to comment on matters that do not relate to public education in Baltimore County. Inappropriate personal remarks or other behavior such as language that promotes violence against a

007BCPS employee or that disrupts or interferes with the conduct of this meeting are out of order and will not be tolerated. Persons who otherwise disrupt or disturb this meeting will not be allowed to continue their remarks and will be escorted from the meeting. Please observe the three-minute clock which will let you know when your time is up. The microphone will be turned off at the end of your time or prior to the time at the discretion of the board chair. At this time we will start with school system affiliated groups and our speaker is Miss Leslie Weber from our PTA council of Baltimore and I believe she is virtual. Miss Weber. Yes, I'm here. Can you hear me? Hi. Yes. Good evening. Thank you. Good evening, Chair Licter, Vice Chair Harvey, Board of Education members,

008and Dr. Rogers. [music] I'm Lesley Weber, president of the PTA Council of Baltimore County. A county council public hearing featuring testimony on ICE and two bills to support and protect our immigrant and mixed status community is taking place tonight. The chair of our justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion committee, Edwin Perez, who often testifies before the board of education, registered to speak on behalf of PTA council. Bill 9725 would establish the office of immigrant affairs and a permanent chief of immigrant affairs. Bill 9825, the trust act, would ensure that county employees and police focus on public safety rather than civil immigration status. National PTA recognizes that the separation of children from their families or the looming threat of it creates toxic stress and trauma that cause lifelong harm to a child's brain development. Many of us

009are aware that a number of BCPS parents fear sending their children to school, which is a tragedy. These bills are about dignity, safety, and equity. They ensure that Baltimore County is a place where every student, regardless of their family status, can reach their full potential. National PTA's position, rights and services for children and immigrants and mixed status families asserts that all children have the right to equality education, adequate food and healthcare. National PTA recently shared important know your rights resources with members. These were resources from the National Immigration Law Center and Center for Law and Social Policy explain the rights of parents and caregivers who are being apprehended and detained. Resources from the Immigrant Family Mental Health Advocacy Program at the Institute for Juvenile Research detail how families can talk to their children about what's

010happening with immigration enforcement. As noted in the National PTA information shared with members, National PTA urges everyone to take action to support policies that support a safe and supportive school environment for all families and students, [music] including students in immigrant and mixed status families. We're happy to share National PTA's position and resource resources with anyone. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Weber. Our next category are our unions. And our first speaker is Mr. Billy Burke from Case, who is also virtual. Good evening, chair, Mrs. Lter, members of the board, and superintendent Dr. Rogers. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you on behalf of Case. I want to begin by acknowledging the shared gravity of this moment. We are under no illusions regarding the fiscal climate facing our county. We recognize that the budget before

011you requires making the impossible choices that define leadership. Cases always sought to be a partner in these difficult conversations. In fact, just last year, our members stood in solidarity with the system by signing a memorandum of understanding to delay pay increases until January. We did that with one goal in mind, to protect the positions and livelihoods of our case members and to prevent the very cuts we are discussing tonight. However, as we look at the FY27 cost-saving budget, we must be honest about the human cost of these efficiencies. The proposal to reduce 524.6 six positions, including over 324 due to staffing formula changes, 40 assistant principal positions, and 36 central office positions, reaches deep into the heart of our school communities. While these are presented as fiscal adjustments, they will be felt as service adjustments

012by the most important clients we serve, our students. When these cuts take effect, the environment changes. Fewer staff members will be available for the critical supervision of students at the car lines and in the hallways during arrival and dismissal. We must also acknowledge that 36 central office positions being cut represent a loss of the vital expert backbone of our district. These individuals provide the specialized curriculum support, legal compliance, and operational logistics that allow that that allow our school-based administrators to focus on their buildings. Some case members were called to HR meetings today. I can only assume the reassignments have begun. When central office is thinned, the administrative burden inevitably shifts back to our principles and APs. Reducing 40 assistant principles place places an immense burden on the remaining administrators who are already working at capacity

013to ensure safety and instructional excellence. Beyond the logistics, our administrators will spend the coming months as the primary support system for teachers and staff entering the priority transfer process to mitigate the instability of the this that this causes cases making a formal request to the board tonight. As assistant principles and central office case members are reassigned due to these cuts, we request that no new hires, either internal or external, be made until every single impacted case member has been placed in either a promotional or lateral position. We must prioritize the talent and dedication of those already serving BCPS before looking elsewhere. We acknowledge that the cuts are unavoidable. However, we advocate tonight for the members of case who will bear the brunt of these reductions. We proved last year through ourou that that we are

014willing to sacrifice to save jobs. Thank you for your time and your partnership. Thank you, Mr. Burke. Our next speaker for unions is Miss Kelly Olds from Tabco. Good evening. Thank you, Chair Licter, Vice Chair Harvey, Dr. Rogers, and members of the board for the opportunity to speak tonight. I want to acknowledge and appreciate that the budget presented yesterday includes the funding for the third year of our bilateral wage agreement. I particularly appreciate treating our bilateral wage agreements as fixed costs. We agreed to a three-year contract so we could spend time focusing efforts on initiatives that advance students, educators, and schools away from the bargain. And that is where we turn our attention now. These cuts are too deep. We are concerned they will be detrimental to the gains our educators have helped win with

015our students. We must work together to curb their scope, size, and impact. The reason I say we are concerned about these cuts instead of something more definitive is because we also call for additional transparency around these cuts. To have the public discussion about cuts and losses, the public needs to know fully what is planned. The more the public, including our county leaders at the courthouse in Talsson, understand what could be lost, the more we can together work to increase county funding to reduce the potential harms that would fall upon our students. In my 22 years at Lansstone High School, we had years with large cuts, painful cuts to our faculty. The years after those cuts, morale was impacted. Students lost access to the adults and resources they needed. Class sizes grew to sometimes unmanageable numbers,

016which brought all the negative results of students having less access to caring adults working with them. Sorry, I have to turn the page. Got stuck. It limited educators to work in small groups. it limited educators ability to work in small groups with learners and reduced the individual attention that can be the true catalyst for learning. I've also seen when former students come back to the school to see a beloved educator that it is particularly heartbreaking when they find out that they have been transferred because of cuts. It reduces community continuity and works against the and works against the gains in cultures at a school. All of this is to say the work now is to reduce the size of these cuts. I've said it here before. I've said it to any of you that I've

017met with and I will say it again now. Let's work together transparently with our cards on the table to call for more than 2% over maintenance of effort. At the budget budget release event yesterday, Dr. Rogers talked about the loss of over 2,000 students from our system. We share the concern with student loss and firmly believe that we must maintain resources in our schools to continue to make Baltimore County public schools the best place to educate children in this county. Thank you. Our next category are nonprofit community groups and our first speaker is Marietta English from the Baltimore County NAACP. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening, Chair Lectter, Vice Chair Harvey, board members, and Superintendent Rogers. My name is Marietta English, and I'm chair of AXO and the Education Committee for the Baltimore County branch

018of the NAACP. The Baltimore County branch of the NAACP represents the entire county and our membership is far and wide and I'm happy to be back after suffering from a fall and the flu. If you notice I haven't been here. So I'm happy to be here to speak with you today. I would like to commend Dr. Rogers and the staff of BCPS on having high schools in the top 50 in the state, including Pikesville, where my granddaughter attends and will be graduating in May. And this is a great accomplishment for Baltimore County Public Schools. I would like to commend Dr. Rogers and the board and on the presentation of the budget yesterday. The accomplishments of Baltimore County are outstanding. You have managed to do a lot with a little bit. I was happy to see

019that the labor agreements will be met. This is huge in the current environment. I know it was difficult but your inclusions of all the stakeholders as you develop this budget is to be commended. I also said as on some of the committees as a as we discuss what our budget priorities would be. We don't always get what we want. However, we have essentials that will help us as we move forward. We will be supporting you in Annapolis as we fight for more funding for our schools. We want to continue the growth of our students. What you have accomplished with just a little is amazing. I want to again thank you for your support of AXO. I am sure that our students in AXO who participate are enriched by their experiences in the schools and help

020us move forward. I look forward to working with you, Superintendent Rogers, and the board as we move forward. Thank you. Thank you. We're glad you're feeling better. Thank you. Our next speaker is Jacob Gerting from the Maryland Association of School Librarians and also virtual. Mr. Gerting. Um, good evening uh, members of the board and superintendent Rogers. My name is Jacob Girding. I am the president of ACT as well as the advocacy chair for the Maryland Association of School Librarians. Masel's mission is to ensure every Maryland student has equitable access to a highquality school library program. While being teachers of record for up to two classes a day is less the ideal, we appreciate that BCPS has worked to retain secondary library positions in this budget. The blueprint for Maryland's future requires the total transformation of

021our secondary schools to ensure college and career readiness. A central strategy in the BCPS blueprint implementation plan is the integration of projectbased learning. PBL cannot succeed in a vacuum. It requires an instructional engine, a specialist who can collaborate across departments to teach students how to construct meme from complex research. A secondary librarian is that engine. When a librarian is um a teacher of record, you shut down the PBL hub for an entire school building during those hours. We recognize in this moment the immense staffing pressures facing BCPS. We understand that in an a fiscal crisis, scheduling a librarian to teach two classes a day is a necessary compromise. However, Masle must be clear. This is not an ideal solution and going forward it should not become a long-term strategy. By making librarians, teachers of record,

022you add the administrative weight of grading, testing, and conferences to a specialist who is already tasked with managing a schoolwide digital collection and maintaining compliance with the Freedom to Read Act. Masle urges the board to commit to a sunset for this strategy and to protect the flexible scheduling that makes secondary libraries work. Do not allow a premier district to create library deserts in our middle and high schools. that's ensured that the blueprint for Maryland's future remains a plan for student excellence with flexibly scheduled librarians and programs uh led by certified librarians that have proven records for improving student achievement. Thank you. Thank you. Our next category are individual citizens or students and our first speaker is Sharon Shoff. Good evening. I hope you can hear me with this on because I don't want to spread

023what I have. Um I'm Sharon Sarof. Um and I am a special education advocate that's been working with this county for over 20 years. Um, and I saw a headline this morning that greatly concerned me about increasing class size to 25 students per teacher. I deal with teachers and administrators and the department of special ed on a daily basis and one of the things that comes up a lot is class size. came up this morning at a meeting where a concerned parent was saying, "Well, what do I do? I have my child in a class of 26 kids and she's in kindergarten. 26 kids in a kindergarten class shouldn't be happening. But my other alternative is take her off diploma track because there isn't a lot of the in between. We have to find a

024way to keep students in smaller classes because our teachers are already overburdened. They have fewer resources and I can tell you how difficult it is to get assistants, aids, paras, whatever you want to call them into classrooms in Baltimore County when they can make more money at other districts. You can't h You can't handle 25 kids in a kindergarten class when you have IEPs for behavior for developmental disabilities. It's just not a workable situation. And I am getting so many phone calls from parents with younger kids this year that I am literally turning people away. I cannot handle that kind of a case load. We know our special ed staff has been overburdened for a while. We have fewer speech and language therapists, fewer special ed teachers. We have to find a way to not

025cut staff and to not increase class size because the ones that are going to suffer the most are our students. and I'm already seeing it at the lowest grade level. So, I think that we should reconsider that class size. Thank you. Thank you. And we hope you feel better, too. Our next speaker is Stacy Nun. Good evening, Chair Licter, to all board members, and to Dr. um Rogers, Superintendent Dr. Rogers. My name is Stacy Nun. I'm a library media specialist at Southwest Academy who is enthusiastic and proud of this tireless work locally and nationally. This evening, I volunteered to speak for school library media specialists in Baltimore County as a unified voice to affirm the critical instructional role of certified library media specialists and the importance of our position. We've all seen the breakdown of

026blueprint for Maryland's future and we are familiar with KMAR of course, but tonight I am pointing out directly to Baltimore County Public Schools um policy 6200. The board of education of Baltimore County recognizes that the school library media centers provide equitable access to print and digital resources essential to 21st century learning um teaching and learning throughout the district. School librarians uphold this policy daily by sustaining inclusive resourcerich learning environments that support both students and staff. In alignment with the policy, librarians collaborate and co-e with classroom teachers to integrate information literacy, research, and technology skills and content area instruction. In addition to these core responsibilities, librarians manage comprehensive library programs that encompass collection development, digital resource management, student access, instructional technology support, and schoolwide literacy initiatives. These duties are foundational to student achievement and require specialized

027training and certification. Collectively, Baltimore County librarians represent a significant instructional workforce. Our strength lies in numbers. It also lies in our shared expertise and the consistent impact of schools across the district. At the same time, the scope of the responsibilities assigned to the librarians has expanded to include teach the teaching of two additional courses outside of our certified content area. As a result, library program data, including instructional reach, collaboration, and access metrics have been significantly impacted. Despite these measurable effects, school librarians have met this challenge with professionalism, adaptability, and continued commitment to students in schools. We raise these data informed considerations to advocate for thoughtful alignment between policy, practice, and staffing. While librarians continue to meet the expanded expectations, um sustaining highquality instruction um and equitable access at scale requires intentional support. In addition to

028maintaining our positions, aligning workload and non-cert certificate instructional focus, we want to be reassured that um Baltimore County school library. Thank you. Our next speaker is Makita Scott who is virtual. Miss Scott. Yes. Hi. Good evening. Can you hear me? Okay. Yes. Great. Good evening, Chair Licer, Vice Chair Harvey, members of the board, and Superintendent Rogers. [clears throat] Thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening. I am here to follow up on the presentation delivered to the equity committee and a letter I sent to the full board regarding the equity council's recommendation for the fisc year 2027 operating budget. These recommendations are grounded in equity centered solutions that are essential so that Baltimore County public schools can create a system where all students thrive. [clears throat] At the time of the presentation, the supporting

029documentation was not available. It has since been uploaded to board docs and I urge all board members to review it in full. The recommendations reflect the collective work of the equity council, community members, parents, and educators whose lived experience and professional expertise informed this process. This was thoughtful, rigorous work rooted in the real needs of our students and families. We look forward to the full board's discussion on how these recommendations can be meaningfully considered as part of the fiscal year 2027 budget. Our expectation is not simply acknowledgement, but transparent communication regarding feasibility, next steps, and timelines. Equity requires follow-th through, and we remain committed to working in partnership with the board to advance this work. I would also want like to request an update regarding the board's required antibbias training for board members. Senate Bill

030293 requires each local board of education member to complete antibbias training at least once during their term. This requirement took effect on July 1st, 2025. At this time, we are requesting written communication from board leadership outlining when this training will begin and when it will be completed. This is a matter of both compliance and leadership. Finally, I am requesting an update on the policy introduced by Miss Pumphrey at the PRC committee meeting on April 1st, 2025, drafted by TACO and CASA. This policy was intended to provide clear guidance to staff regarding parental consent for the release of information and access to know your rights resources. If the board does not plan to adopt this policy, we ask uh request a clear explanation of that decision and information about what policy will be used in its

031place. Our schools and community really deserve clarity and consistency. So, we thank you for your service and your attention to these matters and we as the equity council look forward to continued dialogue and concrete action in the interest of equity, transparency, and accountability. Thank you very much. Have a good evening. Thank you. Our next speaker is Ramona Basillo. Good evening. Good 2026. I would say happy new year. Um but based on everything that we have heard, there's a lot of consternation. There are a lot of legitimate concerns. They're a lot of pain. Um so I will say um good 2026 and we hope that it's a better a better year for everyone. Um many of you know me and my connection with the PTA council. I come today wearing my other hat and that's a

032volunteer coordinator and a member of several national volunteer organizations including Americaore, a former organization called the campus outreach opportunity league, the corporate volunteer council of United Way. I come in support of policy number 1260 regarding volunteers and offer some I don't know if this is the time to do that because I couldn't figure out the agenda um but to offer some suggestions and some feedback on how we can look at volunteers in a new way especially in light of the current staffing and budget situation. I've lived long enough to know this is not new what we're going through. And I've lived long enough to know that there's talent, there are volunteers. And for some of my critics, we're not saying head volunteers instead of staff, teachers, and workers. What we're saying is there's a new

033look that we have to present on volunteers. First, regarding the policy, I would suggest that we include a statement about nonprofits as a part of that. Secondly, the policy as written focuses almost entirely on training. And what we're suggesting, what I'm suggesting is that we include a statement that recognized the value of volunteers from a youth volunteer organization perspective. According to United States sensors, volunteerism is rising. Um, 16 year olds and above are doing a lot of service. 75 million people are volunteering. The majority of it comes from millennials. As we think about volunteerism, let's have a policy. And I would offer that we add a B that will provide recognition for meaningful structured student youth volunteer programs. And I would also add a thank you. And my C would be to add a recognition

034component. And I'm using this as a very public opportunity to say thank you because a couple of years ago I was selected one of your volunteer champions. I hold that award out often. My grandson says why? I said because it reminds me that I'm not finished. So those are my suggestions. And in addition to implementation, it says direct the superintendent to implement the policy. Excuse me. I address respiratory issues. Um, I would say add rule 20, rule 1260 because if I'm looking at this at the first time, there are other opportunities for me to get more information. Thank you. We hope you feel better, too. Our last speaker is Amash Feron. Good evening. Happy new year. Uh, happy for accomplishments, I hope. Um, please read my letter to you. I sent my email. It's lengthy.

035Um, I want to focus on two points. I read uh the good job that the uh uh the website has portrayed the students. So uh a few days ago basically the front page talks about our students and what they accomplished in the year 2025. and it's an interview if you didn't see it with uh about 15 or maybe 20 students. So the first person said what accomplished in year 2025 said learning music. The second student said I was accepted in college. That's great. The third one said, "I got a job." The fourth one said, "I passed SAT." The fifth one said, "I got rid of bad friends." The sixth one said, "I do not know." The seventh one said, "Finally, I can make money." The F1 said, "Finally, I can grow a goatee." The next

036one said, "I got a new car." And the last one, very impressive, I finally made it to the end of the year. So as an observer, it's a good job done by the media department, but it really shows the low bar that is set by the current superintendent and the previous ones. Students portray that aspirations are low. Nobody said anything about their accomplishment in doing research or accepting accepted in Hopkins or university or research institution or anything like that you know it's about making money it's about goatee music etc. And I I think if you add that to the um small amount of improvement that the superintendent has made which I talked about the system is not really set for progress. Thank you. I know three minutes just flies by. The next item on the

037agenda is the superintendence report and for that I call on Dr. Rogers. Thank you. Good evening, Chair Licter, Vice Chair Harvey, and members of the board. Um, at this time, the communications team has uh provided a preview of the budget presentation. Um, all of you who are familiar with team BCPS know that we have been engaging in these conversations around the fiscal climate for the last three years. Um, and so we're going to take a look back at some of the conversations that we've had in the community. Um, along with what our priorities have been focused on our students. Thank you. Our systems key priorities and investments are all focused on moving BCPS forward. [music] We know that implementation science tells us that it takes about 3 years of investing [music] in an infrastructure really

038focusing on professional development and implementation before we start [music] to see student progress move forward. We are fortunate uh in BCPS that it has not taken three years before we have started to see progress [music] in our students. Baltimore County Public Schools has invested in early childhood education, [music] highquality and diverse teachers and leaders, college and career readiness opportunities for students and [music] more resources to ensure that all of our students are successful. This will be another difficult budget cycle for our school system [music] and other eleas across the state with the continued expansion and implementation of the blueprint and probable lower federal, state, and local [music] revenue. For this reason, we will ensure that our communities understand the differences between [music] the operating budget and the capital budget processes, know how our funding is

039spent [music] and accounted for, and understand how different roles across team BCPS directly impact the [music] experiences of our students. We have spent the last several months engaging our staff, families, and stakeholders in conversations about the budget and priority [music] areas for our system. It is important to us that our community knows and understands sources of BCPS funding, how funding is spent, and where they can find additional [music] information. As we did with the last two budget cycles, we will ensure that we give extra scrutiny to all budget submissions to help identify potential savings that can be redirected to offset potential shortfalls. Over the past two fiscal [music] years, BCPS has made more than $168 million in reductions and eliminated hundreds of positions to address budget shortfalls, including 69 supervisory level positions. I will submit

040a balanced proposed budget to the board of education for [music] its review and deliberation. Some key things to note about the proposed budget. It will be aligned [music] to the county target of a 2% increase above what we received in FY26. The proposed budget will include the full year three compensation package for team BCPS staff and to ensure that the budget is balanced and meets the county target. [music] It will also include additional reductions. My commitment to you and to all of our employees [music] is unwavering. I want to use this time to speak not only to [music] that commitment, but to regground us in what we are all committed to, which are the 111,000 students that we [music] serve. My commitment to you is that I'm going to respond to our students. I'm going

041to make sure that everything that we do puts our students [music] first, not only in word, but in deed. Sustaining our forward progress will require continued investment in the priority focus areas that we know are working for our system. These investments will yield positive results [music] not just for our system but also for the county and the state. [music] Next on the agenda is the chair's report and welcome to our first board of education meeting of 2026 and happy new year. I hope everyone had a restful winter break. Many thanks to TABGO and ESPC for organizing their annual legislative breakfast at Summit Park Elementary School this past Saturday. The event gives elected officials and board members an opportunity to hear and discuss the efforts of team BCPS focusing on successes as well as areas needing

042improvement. I appreciate my fellow board members and the many elected officials who dedicated their Saturday morning to attend, listen, and engage in conversation. Thanks as well to Tapco and ESPC members who joined us. Your participation and insights are essential as we work together to advance our system. I would also like to express my appreciation for the opportunity I had to visit Woodlon Middle School last Friday. As we initiate the FY27 budget approval process, it is essential to remain focused on our core purpose, our commitment to improving student outcomes for all BCPS students. Visiting classrooms allowed us to watch and listen to teaching and learning. There was mutual respect among staff and students, notable examples of student leadership, an environment that was both safe and well organized. I'm very proud of the work that is being

043done at Woodlon Middle School under Miss Archelissa's leadership. And I realize that we witnessed is not an anomaly, but rather an example of the hard work our school leaders and staff are doing throughout BCPS on behalf of our students. This brings us to our budget. Shortly, Dr. Rogers will present the proposed FY27 budget. I'd like to thank her for assembling our school and system leadership team together yesterday and providing a detailed overview of the proposed budget. Her presentation offered valuable insight into the process and the rationale behind the recommendations. I appreciate her commitment to presenting a balanced budget while prioritizing full funding for our staff's compensation packages. This reflects her ongoing discussions with our county executive, specifically the percentage above maintenance of effort that the county executive has indicated she would support. Achieving this funding

044priority of full compensation for staff requires careful adjustments and other budgetary areas. The difficult decisions proposed have been informed by staff and community surveys, Dr. Dr. Rogers direct engagement with stakeholders across the county and a researchdriven approach to budgetary reductions. Dr. Rogers, based on all information gathered, is putting forward a balanced budget that reflects substantial input and thoughtful planning in a challenging fiscal time. Though we are just at the start of the approval process, I'd like to thank all those who contributed their feedback and to all of the staff for the hard work that has been accomplished so far. While BCPS has seen notable progress over the past three years, more is needed for every student to succeed. It's imperative that our budget decisions keep student achievement at the forefront. Next on our agenda is

045our student member of the board report. Good evening, board chair Mrs. Lter, Vice Chair Mrs. Harvey, Superintendent Dr. Rogers, members of the board, staff, families, and BCPS students. The new year has started with momentum and collaboration across Baltimore County public schools. One of the most meaningful projects this month has been working last month has been working with our office of school safety to develop a student- centered PSA explaining the I love you guys emergency response protocol. Ensuring that every student understands what to do in an emergency is essential and I'm grateful to be a part of contributing to a resource that will continue to support schools in all of our schools. I've also been working closely with fellow board members to restructure and strengthen our area education advisory councils so they better reflect the needs,

046identities, and voices of students and families they serve. Alongside this, I had the opportunity to attend the annual TAPCO and ESPC legislative breakfast where I heard directly from educators and legislators about the policies shaping our classrooms. I've also been recently recruiting students for this year's student handbook review committee to ensure policy decisions remain grounded in student experience. But the highlight of these past few months has undoubtedly been the series of school visits. From conversations with administrators to listening sessions with students, each visit offered something uniquely powerful. I heard about activity buses expanding access to after school programs. I heard of pizzas with principles events that help rising sixth graders build early relationships with school leadership. And I even heard about the inspiring learning and earning approach at General John Stricker Middle School where students are

047motivated to stay engaged, accountable, and supported. Across the across the county, principal advisory councils are thriving, and it's encouraging to see students not only included, but uplifted within their school communities. Our Baltimore County student councils has been going strong and we're excited to be hosting the Maryland Association of Student Councils on January 2 at Log Raven High School for their annual legislative session. [snorts] This is one of the most important events of the year where students from across the state come together to debate and pass MASC's official bill stances for the legislative session. As one of MASC's state legislative affairs coordinators, I'm grateful for the opportunity to help facilitate these conversations. During this session, we will also select the finalist for the position of the state student member on the board, an essential step in

048elevating strong student leadership at the state level. I hope to see many BCPS students present as we come into the new year. I also wanted to use this as an opportunity to restate and clarify the SMOB's role. The student member serves as a bridge between students and the board, bringing forward student perspectives, highlighting concerns, and ensuring that the lived experiences of young people guide decision-m provides insight. Insight that only someone living in the day-to-day reality of our schools can offer. In essence, this mob ensures that students are not just talked about, but truly heard. Thank you and happy new year to every student, stakeholder, decision maker, and educator who continues to speak up, engage, and contribute to making our school system stronger. Thank you. The next item on the agenda is unfinished business, the proposed

049FY2027 county capital budget. And for that, I call on Dr. Grim. Good evening, Chair Leter, Vice Chair Harvey, members of the board, Superintendent Dr. Rogers. Uh, here this evening for the board's uh, vote and hopefully approval on the, uh, capital budget request. Okay. Thank you. May I have a motion to approve the superintendent's proposed FY2027 county capital budget? So move young. Thank you. Is there a second? Second, hen. Thank you. Any discussion? Just check teams. Okay. May I have a roll call vote, please? Miss Hem, yes. Miss Harvey, yes. Miss Abe, yes. Miss Dleski, yes. Dr. Seavoy, yes. Mr. McMillian, yes. Miss Pumphrey, yes. Mr. Young. Yes. Miss Dominowski. Yes. Miss Leicter. Yes. Thank you. Okay. One second. Okay. The next item on the agenda is unfinished business report on board policies. This is the

050second reader for these policies. And for that I call Miss Christina Pumphrey, chair of the policy review committee. Thank you. Members of the board, the policy review committee asks that the board accept the committee's recommendation to amend the following board policies. Board policy 1260, school volunteers. Board policy 1600, public's charter schools. Board policy, excuse me, 3210, purchasing guidelines. These policies are presented to you on tonight's agenda as exhibits J1 through J3. Thank you, Miss Pumprey. Board members, are there any separations being requested? Okay. Okay. Then may I have a motion to accept the recommendations of the board's policy review committee for board policies 1260,600 and 3210? So moved. Thank you. Is there a sec? Oh, we don't need that because comes from the from the committee. So may I have a roll call vote, please?

051Miss Ham. Yes. Miss um Miss Harvey. Yes, Miss Agamebe. Yes, Mr. Luski. Yes, Dr. Seavoy. I'm sorry. Yes. Thank you, Mr. McMillian. Yes, Miss Pumphrey. Yes, Mr. Young. Yes, Miss Dominowski. Yes, Miss Leicter. Yes. Thank you. The next item on the agenda is action taken in close session. And for that, I call on Miss Kavati. Good evening, Chair Licter, Vice Chair Harvey, Dr. Rogers, members of the board. This evening in close session, you considered and took action in appeal HA26-010. This would be an appropriate time for the board to approve that action. Thank you. May I have a motion to approve the action taken in close session on hearing examiner case HA26-10 and authorize Miss Gver to sign for those board members not physically present. So move so move Miss Dleski. Is there a second?

052Second Dominowski. Thank you. Any discussion? May I have a roll call vote please? Miss Hen. Yes. Miss Harvey, yes. Miss Aome, yes. Miss Dowski, yes. Dr. Seavoy, yes. Mr. McMillian, yes. Miss Pumphrey, abstain. Mr. Young, yes. Miss Dominowski, yes. Miss Lter, yes. Thank you. The next item on the agenda is contract. Oh, thank you. The next item on the agenda is contract awards. And for that, I call on Mr. Young, chair of the building and contracts committee. Members of the board, the board's building and contracts committee met on Monday, January 12th, 2026. Items L1 through L24 were forwarded to the full board for approval. Thank you, Mr. Young. Board members, are there any requests for separations? Okay. Do I have a motion to approve items L1 through L24? So moved, Stleski. Thank you. No second

053is needed since the recommendation comes from the committee. Any discussion, Mr. McMillian? Uh yesterday evening I got cut off during the building and contracts committee. I was actually in a school and the service was terrible and I got disconnected on the last contract on the spares point contract for the track replacement. What's the timeline of that, Mr. Lazaria this summer as well. Excuse me. It'll be this summer. They'll be starting. You need to come to the microphone. Miss Lazaria, I'm sorry. It's okay. The timeline in this one is similar to the other three that we've already taken. Um they will be starting in the spring and and it'll be completed over the summer. So we'll be starting in spring of 26 here in a couple months. Yes. Have you coordinated with the school and the

054athletics and everything? Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Any further discussion? May I have a roll call vote, please? Miss Ham, yes. Miss Harvey, yes. Miss Aumbbe, yes. Miss Dleski, yes. Dr. Mr. Seavoy. Yes. Mr. McMillian. Yes. Miss Pumphrey. Yes. Mr. Young. Yes. Miss Dominowski. Yes. Miss Leicter. Yes. Thank you. The next item on the agenda is the report on artificial and turf grass fields. And for that I call on Dr. Grim and Mr. Sai. Good timing. [laughter] Good evening, Chair Licer, Vice Chair Harvey, Superintendent, Dr. Rogers Board. Uh, Mr. Sai and I are here this evening to provide a report on artificial and grass turf fields. So our purpose this evening is uh to share with you our status regarding artificial and grass turf fields. Um and briefly to share with you so BCPS and

055Wreck and Parks have collaborated to develop and maintain athletic fields to effectively serve our our schools and our communities. And this really started back in 2006. Um it started uh for a need based on durability and playability because our fields were being so heavily used um and we were struggling to maintain those natural grass um turf fields. All right, good evening. Um there's been a lot of discussion nationally regarding synthetic turf fields and natural grass at all levels of sport. Uh I would like to highlight and provide information regarding some of the differences as pertains to first heat. Um as many of you are aware um natural grass uh surfaces normally don't extend over 100° even in hot weather. Uh whereas your synthetic fields can exceed 150 degrees in hot weather. Fortunately for us, um,

056each one of our schools is equipped with a wet bulb globe thermometer that our athletic trainers and athletic directors use, which accurately measures direct sun heat and coupled with our heat guidelines prevent us from having kids out and extenduating heat on these surfaces. Um, as it pertains to safety, um, older turf fields have shown higher rates of foot and ankle injuries, but subsequently newer turf systems show no difference between the two as it relates into 70 72% of most studies. Um concussions for all competitive sports were lower on syn synthetic turf fields. However, there have been a few studies among high school football players where there was a rise in in concussion rates. Um this is normally generally linked to increased turf usage and poor turf maintenance. So if you're not taking care of the

057field the way it's supposed to, chances are more than likely that you are pro um prone to some more injuries. Um, as it pertains to environmental impacts, synthetic turf fields hinder water infiltration and has disposed challenges with chemical concerns from the crumb u rubber infill. Natural grass requires heavy irrigation and chemicals impacting water use and waterway quality despite ecological benefits. Um, BCPS is looking into alternative fillers. I mean, as you guys know, a lot of the um conversation is regarding uh the rubber crumb infill. Um but we are looking towards plant-based alternatives and cork um solutions to alleviate concerns around the ground rubber. Um trade-offs and considerations to be considered. Uh choosing between turf and grass involves balance balancing safety, sustainability, operational feasibility. And I say that BCPS and B and recreation and parks have

058benefited from the installation of turf fields across the county. Next slide. Uh BCPS recreation and parks collaboration on turf installation at most of our high schools has been a complete success. Uh currently there are seven BCPS high school sites that do not have synthe synthetic turf fields. These schools include Chesapeake, Delaney, Eastern Tech, Lock Raven, Owens Mills, BAPSCO, and Western Tech. It is important to note that Eastern Tech and Western Tech um both u use the community colleges both Essex and uh Caitensville community to host uh majority of their athletic games that are on turf fields. Next slide. Status and funding. So where are we at? Um here's the status and the funding information as it pertains to schools who currently do not have turf fields. Chesapeake High School, there is a local bond initiative

059in place for partial funding of design. uh they would need additional funding uh will be required to complete the design and then any for any type of uh installation of a turf field. Delaney High School um there is um a replacement scheduled for a turf field in their new design. So they are scheduled to get a turf field installed um with the new design at Delaney High School. Eastern Tech also has a local bond initiative for feasibility planning services for athletic master plan. Presently there is conjecture regarding the amount of space that they have on campus and the ability put that type of field there. Uh Western Tech does not have any field space. They play all their games off campus. Hence is why they use the community college. Uh so there's nothing in place

060for them and there is no funding at this time regarding the situations at Owens Mills and Lock Raven. So with that I will turn it back over to Dr. Grim. Next slide. So, we wanted to share with you uh our two recent standalone artificial uh turf field projects. Those were at Kenwood and Parkville. This slide shows pictures of the Kenwood turf field and the Parkville uh turf field. Again, as standalone projects, so just the turf field um itself and and sometimes some of the additional infrastructure that's a part of that. Uh Kenwood was $1.4 million and Parkville was $1.2 million. those projects began um and were largely completed in in 2023. I think they turned into 2024 as well. To give you some idea of artificial turf maintenance, as Mr. Sai referred to, um we

061have two different groups working together, collaborating, and we referenced um Baltimore County Recreation and Parks earlier. It's really Baltimore County Property Management that assists us with our artificial turf maintenance. And so this slide depicts what uh BCPS grounds does on a on either a a daily basis again for these uh stadium artificial fields and what uh Baltimore County Property Management does in terms of um their their maintenance of it. And so when you look at something like applying an antimicrobial or the the GMAX testing, the the shock attenuation, um those are are annual things that we coordinate again with the county. In terms of our grass turf maintenance, um this is what includes the stadium field. So these aren't all the other fields at these school sites. These are are specific to those stadium fields

062and and what we do because these are our grounds and how we take care of them again on a on a daily, weekly or as needed basis. To give you a sense of what some of the costs are um for artificial turf, again we have uh 17 sites. It cost us approximately $68,000 in total each year, averaging $4,000 per site. This includes our labor and materials only. It doesn't include vehicle equipment cost, fuel, um, and and any other specialties that that have to occur there. And again, that's that's our cost. That's not the county government cost. Our grass turf sites, the six sites that we do have total about uh 81,000 uh averaging 13,500 per site. And again, they include the the same type of breakdown. And with that, we thank you. Um, and we

063open it up for any questions. Are there any questions from board members? Miss Nominowski? Yes. Um, I remember a while back at a Delaney presentation, we were talk I spoke to someone from the board of directors at the Maryland State Fairgrounds and there was some talk or interest in um, possibly working together to redevelop the infield at the Maryland State Fair to uh, and cooperation with BCPS to use that as, you know, one of our field locations. I mean, the lighting, seating, parking, everything seemed kind of ideal if it it would if the cooperation would work. Was there any communications ever made about that? Uh to my to my knowledge, we have not been approached by the Maryland State Fair uh or state fair grounds with any type of proposal or anything regarding those fields.

064Would it be them that have to approach you or is it something that we'd have to procure or I mean could you would be an open comm I just I don't how would that work exactly? um like any community member that would like to engage us in something that's their property, they would typically reach out to us and and say, "Are you are you interested in using our site or interested in partnering with us?" Um sometimes a local school site, if they have a need to use a particular um particular site, might reach out specifically, but that's not something the school system would normally do. And you're saying they did not reach reach out to you? To to my knowledge, no. because I think I I I think I remember that you were at that

065meeting with Delaney. Uh it was a while it was not it was like in 24 probably um early on and um I remember Kathleen Videl was there and she came up she's one of the on the board there to to my knowledge no one has reached no one's reached out to me personally about using the fairgrounds site. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Other questions? Miss Pumprey. Hi. Thank you for the presentation. Um, I requested this be added to the agenda and unfortunately don't have the correct notebook for my question. So, I'm going to try to recall um why I proposed this initially. I know that we had two different um stakeholder groups come out and speak to us about turf fields versus um grass fields. One was the health and safety uh committee from PTA

066council um and their concerns which one of which I believe you addressed were the um having glove thermometers available to test the temperature of the turf fields. Um, so am I correct that you said they're available at every turf field that we have at the moment? All 24 high schools have them. Okay, thank you. Um, and what was the other thing? Uh, when you mentioned alternative fillers, so is that something we're looking into? Is that something that um might be proposed for um upcoming upcoming fields that are to be built at you know at this point or replacing fields that are already you know it's looking at well to answer your question is to looking into the newer fields that will be installed. I'm not quite certain if it's potentially possible, but it is something

067that we will have a discussion regarding if that can be changed out in terms of the rubber infill versus the um cork or the plant base, but it is looking forward into the future in terms of newer installs. Okay, thank you. Our our partners at recreation and parks are also looking into alternative fills as well. Okay, awesome. Um and the other question I didn't just lose it. Oh, they also mentioned um possible, if I'm recalling this correctly, signs posted at the turf field locations to um note the safety hazards and what to look out for the differences, you know, when you're on a turf field as opposed to a grass field. Is that something we've ever thought about? And like again, I'm going without my notes, so to be very specific, I'd have to go

068back and I will get back to you with that if you don't recall that conversation. I don't recall that conversation at all. I mean, we have plenty of signage out and again would be willing to add any additional signage. Um, that really has not been brought to us in terms of posting signage about any um risk as it pertains to uh turf fields. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. And I will I will find that information from the meeting where they spoke and send that out to you so that you're aware and if any there was anything I forgot, maybe we can I can ask that question again. I appreciate your presentation, Mr. McMillian. Gentlemen, uh Dr. Graham, has Eastern Tech feasibility study been been finished? Uh no, it it I believe it was scheduled to begin

069in uh December and so we do we would not have the final that's the money. That's the project that's funded by the legislative. Yes, sir. That's part of a that that was part of the legislative bond initiative from 2025 from last year. And Mr. Sai, out of the 17 schools that currently have the turf, how many of them have have had it a second time? I couldn't give you that number off the top of my field. I mean, off the top of my head, I know that Kaitensville, so the the older fields that were part of the original start, Kaitensville, Woodlon, Herford, um there are probably about two or three other schools. So, I'm thinking about five or six are probably on that second field. And any schools that have got it a third time?

070I don't believe so. Okay. And is Talson due to get it in their new construction? I believe so. Yes, that's one of the first phases of construction. Thank you. Any other questions? All right. Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you. The next item on the agenda is the report on the proposed FY2027 operating budget request. And for that, I call on Dr. Rogers. Thank you, Bo Chair Licer. Vice Chair Harvey, members of the board, I'm pleased to present the official fiscal year 2027 proposed operating budget. Before we begin, the communications team has created an introduction video. [music] Every dollar has a purpose. Each investment strengthens our foundation. A budget is about more than just resources and funding. It's about unlocking potential, creating pathways for success, investing in team VCPS, fastforwarding student achievement, working together to engage, empower,

071and excel. Every dollar counts. Baltimore County Public Schools is deeply committed to ensuring that every student, regardless of background or circumstance, [music] has access to the resources they need to thrive. And we are putting those resources [music] where they matter the most, closest to our students and schools. We've made significant investments in early childhood education, curriculum, special education, [music] recruitment and retention, professional learning, infrastructure, school support, community schools, and safety and climate. And those investments are making a difference. In two years, we've made great strides in our efforts to fast forward student achievement. Students are demonstrating improved proficiency in math and language arts. We've achieved significant improvement in higherrated schools. The number of four-star schools increased by 82% and five-star schools rose by 21%. 64 schools improved their Maryland star ratings. BCPS has [music] 23

072five-star schools, the highest number in the state for the second consecutive year. Our operating budget reflects our values, high expectations for students and staff, and commitment to pursuing excellence in all areas of our work. The development of the BCPS budget requires several months of collaborative and deliberate work. Community engagement and input is paramount and team BCPS stakeholders are encouraged to engage in the process and provide feedback through surveys, community meetings, advisory and stakeholder groups, principal and central office meetings, board presentations, and more. Your voices played a critical role in the development of the FY27 operating budget. We are aligning resources with priorities, allocating resources in an equitable and transparent manner, and are committed to a balanced budget that moves BCPS forward. Let's stay the course, team BCPS. Our collective efforts and strategic investments are helping

073to make BCPS a premier system in the state and nation. Thank you. If we could post the PowerPoint almost. All right. So, we will begin this evening the same way that I began with the community yesterday. We exist to educate all students. We exist to educate all students at high levels despite what schools they attend, despite what their needs are. In BCPS over the last several years, our student demographics have changed over the last 5 years. This slide depicts the increase in the number of economically disadvantaged students that we serve, the increase in the number of multilingual learners, our fastest growing population in team BCPS. And you'll see a slight increase in the number of students receiving special education services in Baltimore County public schools. Three years ago, our charge was very clear. Don't know

074what that what that our charge was very clear. Our task was to identify the priorities that were needed in team BCPS to address the needs of our students. We were to reverse a trajectory of more than a decade of academic decline. We are very pleased that we have been able to use community feedback. We've been able to use examination of our data as well as review of our procedures and processes to identify four priority areas. Those priority areas remain the same. They are academic achievement, infrastructure, making sure that our processes help us to move forward as well as state-of-the-art facilities for our students. safety and climate, both social emotional as well as physical safety and climate. And highly effective teachers, leaders, and staff. While some have criticized our gains as not enough, I am very

075proud of the progress of Baltimore County Public Schools. Uh, one of the things that we want to make sure that the community notes is all of the data that we share publicly are either comparisons to the rest of the state of Maryland, all of the 23 other districts, or the United States of America. In this slide in particular, [music] this references the Maryland report card. This past year, every student group across all levels demonstrated proficiency improvements in both mathematics and language arts. It's also important to note that school quality and student success improve for students at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. In two short years, we have had significant improvement in the higher rated schools, specifically fourstar schools. Those have increased in BCPS by 82%. 21% increase in five-star schools. 64 schools over

076the last two years have increased improved their Maryland star ratings. For the second year in a row, we have the highest number of five-star schools in the state of Maryland. Okay, I'm going to have to say next slide as this is not working. Thank you. This slide depicts the Maryland report card star ratings as I've shared before across all 24 districts. The Maryland State Department of Education ranked all schools and nine out of the top 10 elementary schools in the entire state of Maryland are in Baltimore County public schools and two of the top five high schools are in Baltimore County public schools as well. Next slide, please. This slide shows our year 1 and our year 2 results in a variety of areas. All of these areas on this slide are external. They are

077validity and reliability tested. The data point that we point to the most that we work on together collaboratively at the central office level as well as in the school level three years day in and day out is chronic absenteeism. We believe that no matter what we have available for our students, what resources, what supports, none of it will mean anything and will have an impact on them unless they are in school. As a direct result of our collaborative efforts, Baltimore County Public Schools had the highest percent improvement in the state of Maryland. And over two years we have more than 9,000 students who now come to school on a regular basis who were not attending school prior to that. There are variety of other data points here including [music] the state assessment results are improvements

078there. The WEDA assessment for multilingual learners teacher retention as well as graduation rate and MISA. Next slide please. It's also important for us to share with our community that when BCPS had the opportunity to receive more funds, we invested all of those funds directly in our students. The research is clear about what it takes to reverse a trajectory of academic decline. There must be an intentional investment in the school system in BCPS. Since FY25, we have invested intentionally in early childhood, adding more than 2,000 fullday preK seats curriculum, making sure that now all of our students have literacy curriculum from kindergarten through grade 12 that is evidence-based where we are teaching the science of reading. And the same is true for English language development. We have had a community schools expansion where now we have

079110 of our schools that provide wraparound supports for our students and families. We've implemented a differentiated school support model. This was to ensure that all schools have different needs and that we were providing support to our schools that were designated as highest needs. our comprehensive school improvement and targeted school improvement schools where they received shoulder-to-shoulder support inside of the classroom, inside of the leadership teams to help advance the progress of our students. Professional learning has been a focus for us, not only for schools, but also for central offices and all of operations to make sure that everyone has access to the most up-to-date strategies to do their best work on behalf of the students that we serve. You'll also note on this slide recruitment, retention, increasing investments in special education, safety enhancements to also include

080additional mental health supports for our students and infrastructure. Our enterprise resource planning project as well as 11 major construction projects have con been completed since FY25. Next slide, please. Oops. One back. Specific to how we have responded to the needs, we have added additional positions to serve our schools. On this slide, you'll see the list of positions that went directly into schools to support our students and their targeted needs. Everything from IEP facilitators at the elementary level to educator retention teachers to additional counselors, charter school positions, special area teachers, and student safety assistants have been part of our investments in team BCPS. These investments have been made possible because of the support of the board of education, the support of our county executives, as well as our county council. When times were plenty and we

081were able to increase compensation and provide enhancements, we did exactly that. The middle column shows the direct investments that we have made in all of our employees. everything from raises for every single employee in team BCPS to being two years ahead of the blueprint mandated 60,000 starting salary for teachers which brings us to near the top of the scale in the state of Maryland national board certified teacher incentives several memorandums of understanding for our staff members including case load management instructional leadership teams particularly at our elementary schools to create the infrastructure needed for student progress, classroom coverage, secondary extra class period, and increase in hourly wages for contractual employees as well as our bus drivers and attend assistants. Um, the total amount of that investment has been $14.1 million in additional compensation and enhancements. And

082[music] as I mentioned earlier, we have had 11 new addition renovation or replacement capital projects. And as of January 8th, the amount of money that has been invested in infrastructure has been more than $569 million. Next slide, please. And so it is important for us to point to the investments that we have made in our students and schools as well as their forward progress. We know what the charge was three short years ago. We have seen positive progress after year 1 and year two. Year three is our opportunity to either solidify our position as forward moving as a school system and truly re reversing that trajectory or an opportunity for regression. It is our goal to make sure that we are moving forward. And so we do not want to have anything that distracts our

083teachers and staff from the work ahead of us and the students that are in the classrooms. And so this budget that I am proposing this evening for your review and consideration and deliberation over the next uh several weeks is in with that in mind. It is informed by the feedback of many people in team BCPS. Next slide please. Next slide please. And so it is very important that we face our fiscal realities. We have a clear plan for how to address the challenges that we see ahead of us and also to respond to the feedback that we have received across the last several months. Before we begin with that, we just want to make sure that there is clarity around the budget. The budget includes six funds. Most of our conversation over the last several

084months has been specific to the operating budget which is includes the general fund which is all of our system operations. So all salary, wages and benefits and all of the day-to-day spending for the school system is a part of the operating bud budget. It also includes the special revenue fund and other components. The only other thing I'll point to your attention in the orange section is the capital projects fund. We have both the state capital budget and the county capital budget which the board of education voted on this evening. Those are very separate processes [music] to make sure that we deal with all of the construction needs of our facilities. The FY27 budget development process uh began several months ago. As a part of that process, we engage with many people. This slide depicts all

085of the groups that we have had an opportunity to hear directly from from the advisories, PTA councils, principles in monthly meetings, central office leadership. We have sent out surveys to all stakeholders in the community as well as a a separate survey to our principles to which I reported those findings. We had five different community conversations to hear directly um from our community. The board of education has also had the opportunity over the last several months to hear operating budget presentations. uh they are listed on this slide as I have done for the last three years. We have also had 2 by two small groupoup meetings. Those were held in December and this is an opportunity for our board of education members to ask me any direct questions that they have about the budget. Also this

086year knowing that we were in an especially fiscally challenging time um making sure that I was hearing any and all considerations for reductions in the budget areas to um inspect for necessary changes were a part of those meetings. We also held the FY27 budget overview presentation I believe in [music] uh December as a part of the budget development process to make sure that everyone had access to as much information as possible and everyone was able to weigh in on what their priorities were as a part of those discussions. Um the responses came back and they were clear um to the survey as well as individual face-to-face meeting. Um our families, our staff members told us that there was um [music] concern over providing supports to struggling students. Um we also heard that there was um

087support for keeping class sizes as small as possible. But what we heard the loudest um from all uh stakeholders across the system was to prioritize compensation. That prioritizing the full compensation package was extremely important to members of team BCPS and so this proposed budget does just that. Next slide please. We have shared the budgeting elements um that we have used. On one side of this slide, it depicts research uh that Georgetown University, their eduomics lab has been sharing for the last few years. Um particularly with the ending of ESSER funds for school systems to consider um to make reductions in their budget as that was a fiscal reality um across the United States. What you see that's unique to BCPS on these slides, you see the check marks for every area that we have implemented

088as a school system. Um, next to that you have specific uh measures that we have taken in team BCPS. I want to remind everyone that we are in a third year of a central office hiring freeze. Uh we have lifted our freeze uh temporarily in the summers for a short period of time. um to staff. Um the only other exception is when a position comes up. If a uh chief from a division believes that it is missionritical, they are able to apply for an exception. Um we do not automatically have not automatically will not automatically fill uh positions that become open whether they are for retirements for uh promotions or for resignation of staff members as part of our fiduciary responsibility. [music] um contract review for the first time this year. Uh we reverse sorted

089all of our contracts that we had in team BCPS from the most expensive contract to the um smallest contract that we had. And what we were looking for as a cabinet, what uh chiefs went back and looked for in their teams was an opportunity to either renegotiate contracts for a um reduced price to reduce um amounts of goods that we procured if we were procuring a certain um amount of [music] an item or to eliminate contracts in their entirety. And in a few slides I will share some of the results of that. Uh zerobased budgeting. This is our third year in a row of implementing zerobased budgeting where we evaluate all expenditures. We require [music] evidence um of actual either expenditures or escalations uh that are in contracts. Um we do not automatically provide for

090all divisions uh the same amount of uh budget alloc budgetary allocation that they received the previous year. Um we have no new initiatives in this budget unless uh mandated and um we also uh ex took extreme scrutiny uh around our new request and you will see the results of that shortly as well. Uh we also engage in a position analysis this time uh with an external source. Uh for the last few years as you know we have made position reductions in team BCPS. We have normed with our um uh other neighboring districts. We wanted because we had such a um heavy lift in front of us. We wanted to have national comparison and wanted to benchmark with a partner that deals with budget benchmarking. And I'll share that data shortly. Uh we reviewed all of

091our master schedules uh to make informed decisions based on courses where students were currently enrolled uh to ensure that our recommendations were aligned to our student needs. Um and we looked at all of our formulas, our formulas that are public facing, ensuring that uh what we had as a formula was what we had implemented in our schools and additional grant offset opportunities. Where there were there opportunities in federal funding for us to move additional positions from our operating budget to our grants? Next slide, please. Over the last two fiscal years, [music] we have reduced the operating budget internally by $169 million. This includes a reduction in central office supervisory positions. One of the pieces of feedback that we heard from our community members was around the size of our central office. Um we examined that

092feedback. we uh reviewed our positions. We looked for efficiency and made those changes. Um I also want to note uh for our community members that part of these $169 million worth of reductions um really focus on central offices. Uh a large portion of our reductions were in the central offices over the last two years. Uh we also last year were able to uh not make any changes with our staffing allocation formulas uh as we looked school by school of all of our formulas to make sure that we were in alignment. Uh the first year we eliminated vacant positions that for years we had had on our books. We were budgeting for um but they remained open and we made reductions in built-ins. Everything from reducing travel, reducing um cell phone statement stipens, reducing um supplies

093and etc. were part of the work uh that we engaged in for the last two years. Uh this is important to note uh because now we have come to a uh portion when we have the third year of reductions where these opportunities are no longer available in the budget. And so they require us to make difficult decisions in order to honor the feedback that we have received from our stakeholders about the priorities for FY27. Next slide, please. Also want to make sure that we highlight where the funding comes from. Um BCPS is not revenue generating. We receive all of our funding from the local, state, and federal government. Um a small portion from other. You will see on the uh pie chart that the majority of our funding comes from the local government um followed

094by the state [music] as well as a smaller portion from the federal um government. Uh we have heard comments about how much money um Baltimore County Public Schools receives for the budget. We receive a generous budget. Um we want to uh reiterate that maintenance of effort is the law. Um, our budget is likely the third largest budget in the state of Maryland as we are the third largest school system in the state of Maryland. Um, we are grateful uh to be in a county where our local partners have funded us above maintenance of effort meaning above what is required. Last year our funding was 3 and a half% above what is what was required. And so out of the funding that we received um last year we received uh approximately 30 million additional dollars above

095what was required but the bulk of funding that we received was required based on the per pupil appropriation. So the number of students that we have um in our schools and the funding from the year before. Our funding target this year uh from our county executive is 2% above what we received last year. If we want to compare that to maintenance of effort, that is the equivalent to 3% above maintenance of effort. Um as I stated, we do not generate our own funding. All of our funding comes with strings attached. All of our expenditures must be accounted for. Whether these are expenditures at the central office level or at the schoolhouse level. Um you will note as happened this evening uh part of what happens in many board of education meetings are contracts. Um as

096a part of those contracts that are listed on board docs. There are budget appropriation limits. There are terms to the budget and specific vendors. Uh those terms apply to all schools and all offices. We have individual spending transaction limits and we have return reporting and external auditing requirements in team BCPS for all of our funding. Next slide please. Many factors have changed since January 2025. Um as we have shared this is a challenging fiscal climate. Um factors at the federal level has changed. uh BCPS, we are watching um with you at the same time about the changes at the US Department of Education and what the impact might be on us directly as a school system. This is important to us because we have more than,00 positions that are funded by grant funds. [music] Um

097the future of this funding source is unknown. Um however, we are um [music] uh pleased that federal funding is appropriated one year in advance of when um we plan to uh use those funds. Um at the state level, uh the structural deficit has uh increased. I believe the most recent number is about a $5 billion structural deficit. Um while school system funds are in a protected trust uh known as the blueprint, the concern that we advocate for is um the uh budgets moving forward that stretch out the funding. The only way that that is able to be stretched out is by um [music] providing less than anticipated annually to the school systems. And so last year uh we advocated in Annapapolis um [music] for that not to happen. Um it was a uh good year

098for school systems last year at the state level. The governor's budget has not yet been shared for this year. However, we do uh know of one risk that I will share um [music] uh shortly and uh we plan to be in Annapolis again. I invite any and all members who want to advocate on behalf of team BCPS to join me uh as I will be there often advocating on behalf of our 108,000 students and at the local level um what we have to appreciate is that they receive their funding from the federal and the state level and so uh a reduction at those levels also [music] impact them and so I am um grateful that our county executive not knowing what will come out of this legislative session which I believe uh begins tomorrow um

099has committed to team BCPS an above maintenance of effort budget. Um what she has committed to is [music] u the equivalent of $29.73 million above what is required um for the school system based on our enrollment in our formulas. Next slide please. And so it's important that we take a look at student enrollment. Um as uh you are aware of as we have shared this previously enrollment has not bounced back uh since COVID. This is the trend in the state of Maryland and Baltimore County Public Schools is no different. Uh we have had an opportunity to examine some of the reasons um for the decline in enrollment. What we have learned is over the last 10 years, particularly in Baltimore County, um or specifically in Baltimore County and uh there are uh some data to

100uh support this, there is a lower birth rate overall um over the last 10 years, which has an impact on the number of school age children um that are available to come to our public schools. Uh there has been an increase in homeschooling uh since uh the pandemic. Although this last year we were successful in attracting uh more homeschooling families back uh to our online programs um in BCPS. We've noted for this last year the immigration policy has had an impact on our multilingual learners and their um attendance [music] in school. And so these are some of the reasons and um at the same time as you know wages and benefits are increasing. And I bring this to your attention because all of our funding sources um at the federal level, at the state level,

101and at the local level, they are tied directly to enrollment. So based on the number of students that you have attending, whatever the formula is, it is multiplied by the number of students. And so when you have fewer students attending, there are fewer funds coming into the school system. If we take a closer look, next slide please, at student enrollment, um we will share uh some data that is specific to uh what we are anticipating for FY27. Um important to note on this slide, um it includes uh not only the wages, but the benefits as well. Um so for FY27 we are anticipating $46 million worth of additional revenue for team BCPS. Um some of that is at risk which I will share in the upcoming slide. Um [music] and it is also important to

102share that under any funding scenario that we had planned for team BCPS um all members of team BCPS were to receive a raise. The second half of the year 2 compensation was built into any and all projections that we had. Um that amount is $28.1 million. So $28.1 million of the $46 uh million increase um was something that we planned for. Um $60 million is the cost of additional compensation for the three year the year three of the compensation package. when you add the benefits, it increases to $64.9 million. So, right here on this slide, um we can see the math problem that the budget um poses for us in team BCPS. Right there, just in compensation is a $47 million gap. This does not include increased costs for fuel, for uh contracts, and etc.

103This is just for compensation. Next slide please. As I stated before, there is a risk of the full state funding that we are aware of. Uh prior to COVID, you will recall uh that school systems, compensatory education or what we used to call farms. Um specifically, we are speaking about economically disadvantaged students. That number was determined based on farms or SNAP uh certification. there is um a potential risk to move away from the hold harmless um that we have been operating under to [music] going back to direct certification using forms um or SNAP benefits. Um as I shared with you, everything that we do is based on enrollment. So based on the number of students that attend Baltimore County Public Schools, there is a potential loss of $15.45 45 million dollars. Uh we have already

104started working on this. Um in November when this information came to us um state um association of superintendent, we all came together the executive uh team of which I am president-elect. We wrote a letter to the governor requesting two things that are depicted on this slide. An overall hold harmless for FY27. So we do not have this negative impact on our school system budgets and a provision that would ensure that no school system receives less compensatory funding. In other words, less funding for economically disadvantaged students than was provided in this current fiscal year as well as a continuation of hold harmless for community eligibility pro uh programs of which we are a part of that. Um, as you know, we provide free meals, breakfast and lunch to all of our students. This is the third

105year in a row, and we do not want anything that would jeopardize um our students having access to meals and reintroducing food insecurity in our schools. Next slide, please. And so one of the questions that we wanted to answer very clearly and very plainly for all members of our internal community and all members of the external community is about BCPS uh spending and the uh amount of funds that we receive. Um sometimes in isolation hearing the size of the budget um uh people ask the question well where is the money going? Uh the purpose of this graphic is to answer that question. Um 82 cents of every dollar of our $2.7 billion goes to employees in Baltimore County public schools. And while sometimes it is stated if only you do X, you will be able

106to close the budget gap, we want to make sure that people know that that is not correct. 82 cents. What you see in dark green shows you the percentage that goes to different members of team BCPS. So it is proportional. And so comments about nonrepresented staff, non-represented staff are part of the one penny that also include contractual employees. The largest portion of our budget and rightfully so goes to represented Tabco represented employees that is followed by ASME represented employees ESPC followed by case ops. What's important to know is 18 cents is what else is used to operate the entire school system. When I say operate the school system, I mean all of the lights, the light bulbs, the light bills, everything that you can think of. All of our um rental agreements, our buses, paying

107for non-public placements, supplies, it is 18 cents. And so no matter how much work we do around the edges to trim, cut, reduce, find efficiencies for the 18 cents, at the end of the day, 18 cents is still 18 cents and everything has a cost. Next slide, please. So, as I alluded to earlier, we engage in a staffing analysis um to ensure that there were no blind spots that we had missed either internally or with making comparisons to other school systems in Maryland. We partnered with Education Resource Strategies. They have been working for more than two decades with schools, districts and state leaders, more than 30 systems um focused on budgets, focused on how to shift resources and opportunities to ensure that um staffing is aligned um to create budget efficiencies while still meeting the

108needs of the students. Over the next few slides, I will share some of the findings. So, this first slide depicts leadership and central office management positions. Um, you will note for each one of the slides, uh, there is Baltimore County and then a comparison to the median. Uh while they have worked with well over 30 districts, they identified the eight districts that had the eight school systems that had demographics that were closely aligned uh to Baltimore County public schools and identified the medium. Uh what you see here is our percent of overall staff and leadership in management is leaner, less than the median in Baltimore County public schools. When you take a closer look at the adjusted leadership and management and you're looking at specific position areas, um, executive directors, area officers, coordinators, managers, etc.

109Um, you will also note that our positions are much less than the median of the comparison districts. Next slide, please. When we look at instructional ratios, this is what's happening inside of our school buildings and special education positions. Uh the first um graphs in uh the Golden Rod and Eggplant, those are the instructional ratios. We first have teachers only when we're comparing all teachers to our student population. And then what you have in purple are teachers and what they are terming teacher assistants. TAS include all of our parah professionals, any classroom assistants as well as parah educators. Um Baltimore County um our instructional ratio of students to all teachers and our instructional ratio of teachers and TAs is higher than the median. If we take a look at special education teachers, so only special education

110teachers assigned to our special education uh students, which that staffing is separate and different from our general education uh students. Um you will note that our staffing again is [music] higher than the median. um they have identified the um the implied number of FTEEs higher than the median where we have well over a 100 positions higher in than the median. Um this is uh pointing to that our um in these two areas that Baltimore County Public Schools is well resourced. And the final slide from the staffing analysis is around our student support uh services positions. Um how are we supporting our students outside of the classroom? So the first area is around pupil services and enrichment. That includes um supervisors in this area, coordinators, managers, social workers, guidance counselors um that service our students. You

111will note that BCPS is um right at the median with 3.6 six. Um, but what I want to call your attention to is the green and the dark blue. Um, while we are at 3.6 and aligned with the median by overall positions, we have fewer [music] uh middle management positions which are highlighted in green and more counselor positions which provide direct services to our students. To take a closer look at counselors, um you will note the last bar graph. Um the median while the ASCA recommendation is 250 to1. Um Baltimore County Public Schools is continuing to make headway and very close to that recommendation. We are at 269. Um we are lower um than the median in terms of the number of counselors that we have provided for our students over time. Um I have

112shared highlights from this report as part of what is posted on budget 101. Um [music] the report for Baltimore County Public Schools will be posted there along with the comparison of the eight other districts um that will be posted uh this week. Next slide, please. And so we have made reductions. Uh this slide speaks to our reductions in built-in costs. Uh built-in costs are not optional. These are fixed obligation. Um everything from transportation to um textbooks, technology license, telecommunication, paying insurance and facilities maintenance is a part of this. Uh what's highlighted for you in bold are the areas where we are reducing our built-in costs. Those are diesel and unled fuel, telecommunications, facilities maintenance, devices and software license fees, reduced workforce development carryover, and IT contract services and vehicle parts. Our total reductions in builtin

113costs is $4.07 million. And this is at a time where costs are rising. Next slide, please. Um, as I shared, we reviewed all of our contracts and some of this work is ongoing as we are working directly with vendors uh to renegotiate. This slide captures um negotiations that have um uh continued opportunities to um uh avoid different costs. Um you'll see here uh assessments u from uh research accountability and assessment facilities transportation information technology and curriculum and instruction reduce costs from uh the price of um costs for assessments, our facilities support services cost avoidance and on budget 101 we will have posted those specific uh contracts contracts um that have allowed us for FY26 and moving forward to um avoid um this uh tremendous cost um elimination of duplicate uh GPS, our ability to reduce

114our UKG um license, our ability to align our Microsoft license to positions that people have um [music] in across our system. the board approved a pause on um IB and elementary and middle which has yielded uh forward progress for those students. That uh pause also comes with a savings and the continued use of structured literacy as part of our HMH um contract. Uh that is separate from our costs that we have in our budget for contractual personnel. um across our budget for years. We have had contractual personnel either uh work for a certain period of time over the school year to address needs in departments and divisions or work um throughout the year. Uh the team has gone in and made reductions in excess of $8.6 million in this area. Reductions in new spending. So

115typically um there is new spending that must be added to the budget uh based on the needs of the school system. This slide shows for you the historical BCPS new spending uh for the years of 2021 and 2022. Um the amounts in the operating budget were lower than before and that is because we were receiving ESSER funding. Um part of that ESR funding went specific lead to salaries, wages, contracted services and benefits. Um the numbers that you see on these uh line items for 2021 2022, they don't reflect all of the ESSER spend spending [music] or excuse me, all of the ESSER funding that we have received. they only reflect the additional ESSER funding that we used uh for wages and benefits in those two fiscal years. Um [music] in 2025 uh we had 69.7

116or 69.8 million of additional new spending. Last year we reduced that amount dramatically um to $24.4 million. And this year we are moving forward. Uh, I am proposing a budget that reduces that amount by 73.6% to $6.4 million. Next slide, please. Even with all of the reductions that I have detailed for you, that is not enough. I recall your attention to the uh enrollment and our enrollment, the gap between our revenue and the costs for compensation and our commitment to fully fund both year three of the compensation package in addition to the second half of year two. And so this slide details the additional reductions, net position reductions. Um we have uh this number includes 594.4 for a total of 58.9 million. It includes 111.5 school-based positions tied to enrollment. This is a number that

117you will see in our operating budget annually. Um it is always um tied to the September 30th enrollment and tied to the funding that we receive from our sources. In addition to that 324.8 eight position tied to a change in staffing allocation formula. On this slide, you will see the proposal to have no change to our youngest learners uh prek and kindergarten at 22 um but moving grades 1 through 12 to 25 to actualize those st savings. [music] It's important to note at this time um in our uh master agreements we have no layoffs and no furlows. um our these reductions um can be actualized the majority of them through annual attrition. Uh annually we hire hundreds of teachers into Baltimore County public schools. Um what this means is that we would hire fewer teachers

118in fiscal year 2027. Um, we also have 36 additional central office positions, 40 assistant principal positions over the formula, 23.3 staff development positions, 12.3 secondary reading positions based on the schedules and the actual sections uh that our students are in, what their data uh calls for that they need. Uh 5.2 2 reduction in online learning programs and an additional $449,782 in contractual employee services. Um we have uh met with our directors of title one and um community schools to review opportunities to offset positions from the operating budget to the grants. This has yielded in a reduction of 41.6 six positions totaling $5.2 million. Um it includes uh PPWs, counselors, reading specialists, and staff development positions. Um additional IT reductions for $2.75 million and reduction in summer school costs for uh $432,000. Also want to highlight

119for you uh the increased use of fund balance. Uh last year we had some conversation about our use of uh fund balance. If you will recall in the FY26 budget, we began with proposing uh $18 million to be used from the fund balance. We increased to $30 million of the fund balance to fund additional compensation uh for our staff members. Um after our final uh negotiated agreements, uh we move to $37.8 million of use um of our fund balance. This FY27 budget proposes that we increase even more to $50 million of [music] uh fund balance use for the upcoming year. Um it's important to note that when you look at the fund balance, you will see the cushion that is necessary. um from the county rec uh recommendation for emergencies and contingencies and you will

120see um I believe it's another $20 million um above that I want to call your attention to a few slides ago and the state funding risks that we have of um 14 uh more in excess of uh excuse me $15 million. um what it means if we [music] do not um ensure that we have proper fund balance available and we are not successful um in our advocacy in Annapolis is that we would be looking uh for $15 million um and I believe that's the correct uh number of additional reductions to the budget. Um and so I just want to um highlight that for everyone the need that we are indeed increasing the use of fund balance to try to mitigate and offset some of the um reductions that we have to make internally and the

121need for us to be fiscally responsible and ensure that there are funds remaining in the fund balance in case um we receive some uh information from this legislative session. um in [music] Annapolis. Next slide. Our new SP spending as I shared is minimal. Um we are moving from 24.4 million to 6.4 uh million. Uh what is on this slide is what is absolutely necessary. You will see $3.46 million for our two charter schools that are coming online as is required. and um uh speech and language pathologists. We have invested in reducing the case load. Um you'll see that amount here the the cost um needed to continue that and special education um nine special education pair educators and 11 special education teachers for a total of 20 staff members to support our SCS or CLS

122and our continuum of service um programs in our schools to directly meet the needs of our students. That is a total of an additional spending of $5.23 million in academic achievement. In the area of infrastructure, the only things that are here are um required. Um you'll notice facilities uh management uh the 12 building service workers that are needed um for the additional square footage in our new project. So you'll note Dundock Solers Point High School, Lansdown High School, and Deer Park um elementary school. The square footage has requirements on uh staffing to maintain that square footage. Uh you'll also um note uh where I see a uh typo where you see the FTE and it says 20 under research, accountability, and assessment. Please let the record reflect. That is false. it is zero in that

123line and what is uploaded will be corrected. Uh but what we are requesting is $55,000 for a contractual transcripts um office uh person to respond to all of the transcript requests for the um school system and um data analytics um office which I believe is um uh $110,000 or $55,000, pardon me, $55,000 for that amount. So that correction will be made um uh for the record. Uh in safety and climate, I wanted to share while we have no new expenditures, I did want to respond to our community. As you know, one of the things that uh we did was put out a survey uh directly to the community regarding the continued use of OmniRert in our schools. and we had a se separate uh one question survey that went directly to our principles about the

124continued use of omni alert in our schools. Um it was very important for us that we heard directly from principal principles uh because as you know um if there were any emergency they are indeed the first responders in a school. um what we heard from our communities, more than 2,700 responses um more than 75% me of the members of the community um uh said that they supported continued funding of Omni Alert in schools. When we looked at the data from our principles, eight out of every 10 principles, 80% of our principles um requested the continued funding of OmniRertton schools and so wanted to make sure that we closed uh the loop on that. Next slide please. This slide uh details the compensation costs. While I gave an overview and reference to enrollment um this slide,

125the first uh column represents our unions. We also have non-represented here. Um the year two as I indicated every budget scenario accounts for a raise for all employees. So what the cost of that is broken out by union is in the second column. Uh the third column um details the full year three compensation costs. These include the benefits that we are required to pay. And so you see the total cost um represented both in table form as well as the pie chart. Next slide, please. And so we'll move into the financial summary. So when we look at the general fund revenue, um the local proposed budget is um uh little more than uh a billion uh dollars here. Um you see the state is 992.5 million and for other and federal funds se 67.9 uh

126totaling uh to uh almost 2.1 billion. Next slide. All funds revenue. Uh this shows you the general funds but as I uh shared before the operating budget has six different funds. And so this slide uh captures those six funds. You'll see the general fund, special revenue, which are all of our grant funds for the operating budget subtotal. Um, uh, listed below are the internal service funds, capital project funds, uh, which is, uh, dramatically smaller as this is not a bond year uh, for construction projects. uh debt service fund and enterprise funds for a total of uh almost 2.5 uh billion for the fiscal year 2027 proposed budget. And so I want to um uh [music] close by highlighting what the FY27 proposed budget um does. The FY27 uh proposed budget um acknowledges and addresses the

127uh conversations that we've been having over the last uh three years. Um that um we are in fiscally challenging times. Uh we have challenges um um across levels. Um we we have uh social challenges uh political challenges and fiscal challenges. Um, we have, uh, done our due diligence to go out into our communities, um, to hear about what is most important. Um, understanding and recognizing that we can't do everything, what is most important. And what we heard um loud and clear was prioritizing recruitment and retention by honoring year two and year three of the compensation package for all members of team BCPS was most important. And so this proposed budget includes both [music] things in our budget year two and year three. Our balanced budget also acknowledges and extends gratitude to our county executive for

128while not having uh what is going to be proposed in the governor's budget still making a commitment to the school system of funding us above maintenance of effort of funding us 2% increase above [music] the uh funds that we received last year which as I shared previously equates to 29.73 three millions of dollars. Um, not receiving this funding, jeopardizing not receiving above maintenance of effort, uh, would call for additional reductions, um, in an already challenging, um, budget season. I think what we want to make sure that everyone understands um is that we absolutely have a plan um to address the priority that BCPS has laid before us. Um we are uh understanding that our students now more than ever uh need us to focus on them and what it is that they need in the

129classrooms. Um when uh everyone sees our budget book posted uh tomorrow, which it will be online tomorrow, um our cards are on the table, our books are open, there will be no questions about um how we are making changes, what positions are being reduced. And so I think uh one of the questions we heard earlier was whether or not um we have started reassignments. We have not started reassignments um as uh this is a proposed budget for fiscal year 2027 as is my um uh requirement uh in this uh position for the board's review, deliberation and final decisions. Uh but we also believe very strongly as we focus on climate [music] and environment um and safety not only physical but social emotional um that also is true for our employees in team BCPS. And so

130while we post positions in a budget book, we owed it to our staff members for them not to come to work tomorrow uh to open a budget book and find out that their positions were proposed for reductions. And so there were courtesy conversations to let staff members know what um if something impacted them that it was indeed in the uh budget book. uh we remain in a freeze. Um I want to um uh start to close with the same way that I closed yesterday. Uh we exist to educate students, all students. We acknowledge the tight fiscal times that we are in. Our responsibility at this time is to do everything that we possibly can to remain focused on the needs of our students. We have to spend the next few months delivering high quality instruction

131in all of our classes the very first time because our 108,000 students, no longer are they 110,000. Our 108,000 students are depending on each and every one of us. This is the opportunity for Baltimore County Public Schools as um uh judged by Maryland State Department of Education as compared to 23 all other districts in this school uh in the state of Maryland as compared to other school systems across the nation. This is our opportunity to determine whether or not year three marks continued forward progress for our students who are counting on them or are we going to regress because we are losing focus on what is happening in the classroom and we are not listening to the messages that people have communicated. I fully acknowledge that this is tough and this is difficult. Um if

132we had a choice, we would make different choices. But in tough fiscal times, in tight realities, we need to present a budget that addresses the information that we have received. We have received loud and clear that compensation must be a priority. We have received loud and clear from our largest funding partner that the commitment that can be made is 2% above last year. I believe that part of my responsibility in representing team BCPS is to respect the message from our funding partners and that is what this proposal brings forward. I am open for any and all additional funding sources. I absolutely have a plan for ways that I would be restoring positions um in the budget if those funds come uh to fruition. I will be right back in Annapolis, the same place I was

133last year, um on countless visits advocating for our students who are counting on us. I invite any and all members of team BCPS, the public at large, uh all of our esteemed board members and etc. if you would love to join me in Baltimore County in moving to Annapolis on behalf of our students, please feel free uh to come and advocate on our students. And so with that, we are here for the students. We are committed to continuing our work throughout the rest of the year. and I look forward to the open conversations around the fiscal realities and the FY2027 proposed budget. Thank you. Thank you. So, thank you Dr. Rogers for that very detailed report. That was a lot of information for us to digest, a lot of information for you to present. Um,

134you obviously know this information because I'm sitting next to you and didn't see any notes, but it was all it was all coming out. So, um, thank you for our public. There will be a public hearing on Tuesday, January 20th, 2026 um in person in this room. So, sign up for speaker registration was open this morning online and it will close at 300 p.m. on Monday, January 19th, 2026. A waiting list will also be available 30 minutes prior to the start of the meeting in person. Again, that's next Tuesday, January 20th, our public hearing on the proposed budget. Board members, that was a lot of information to digest. So, please um submit any questions that you may have on this proposed operating budget to Dr. Rogers by Wednesday. Whoops. We're we're going to submit questions

135and come back. It's not a budget question. Okay, let me just Can I finish this and then Okay. Um Right. Submit any questions you have about the information provided. And again, the budget book will be online to Dr. Rogers by Wednesday, January 21st, so that she can be prepared for discussion at our January 27th work session on the budget. Okay, Miss Dominowski, it's more of a um in line with the calendar, we were supposed to get the proposed budget book today. I was just wondering what the reason was for delaying until tomorrow. So, um what we shared several months ago is that we are going to provide uh printed copies of the online budget book for anyone who requests it. I believe Miss Gover um took a list of names or or she will take

136a list of names of anyone who wants a printed copy um and she'll share the process that she's using to get them to you. Why wait till tomorrow to post the online version then? So that's what we have done annually. Yes, but according to the calendar, we're supposed to receive it today, the budget calendar on our website. And I don't I didn't get a email about the on about a printed one. I don't know about if anybody else did. Yes, you received that uh several months ago um I believe in August. Um where we shared that we would be printing them on the night of the budget meeting. Um, and this was to avoid any confusion about the online book versus the hard copy book. Uh, because the budget team works until the, uh, 24th

137hour making sure that they're reviewing all funding as they receive new and updated information from state and other um, uh, offices. They make sure that those numbers are correct. And so that was provided uh, I believe late August. um to all board of education members that moving forward, Miss Gover would be printing online versions to ensure that there was uh no uh difference between the hard copies and the online version of the book as previously. I believe it was a two-eek window in advance when those books were printed. Sir, just one last followup. So, is the is it finished? The books is the budget book finished like is it ready to be posted? I'm just curious as to why we're not getting even an online version. Why wouldn't since we we we switch we're switching.

138We're not getting a print for anyone unless we request one. Why we're not posting it now online so we can start looking at it. She will post it first thing in the morning. As far as the request for written um written format, can we still make that? I I don't recall. Okay. Yes. Just let me know. If you want a printed one, please let her know ASAP so that she can get them to us. Go ahead. Yeah, before we leave. Yeah. [music] Or she can send you an email, whatever she feels is best. However you like to tell it, you can email her right this minute and say, "I want it." You can let her know before you walk out. Um, go ahead. How will we get it in time to submit questions? Can we

139have those delivered as we do the hearing? She will have them delivered to your home. I think our questions are due Well, we can extend. Okay. Thank you. The deadline for the questions from Wednesday. I'll let you know when the deadline for the questions is. Was that all the There was hands up over here too before. Did that answer all your question? Mine was answered. I over I must have overlooked August. I don't remember seeing that email. So, that answered my question. Thank you. Okay, other questions. Let me make sure online. Okay, I'm not sure. Miss Gover will either resend it or we don't even need the email at We just need you to tell her yes, I'd like a print. How many people would like a printed copy of the book? Okay, we will

140assume it's okay. So, okay, we will assume that um or you can find out from Dr. Seavoy and Miss Harvey if they too would [music] like it and Miss um from Pong. Is that everybody? Yep. Okay. Oh, that was Miss Pumprey. [laughter] Okay, let me go on to the next thing. All right, the next item and the last item is board member comments and any agenda setting items. So, if you have a comment or an agenda setting item, please raise your hand. You can always send me your items. Um, Miss Stleski, thank you. This is um a second request for a presentation on elementary science. Um, okay. Just an overview of elementary science. So, you had one thought, right? And I know that there was a lot of um information follow-up information that the public

141was asking for in terms of learning time and how many minutes per day were spent with science and how instruction was impacted if certain schools focused more on ELA and math. You mean currently how it's being delivered. So just sort of a follow-up presentation regarding Okay. that impact. Thank you Miss Amhen. Thank you. So, I have two agenda requests. One is a deep dive presentation on the staffing benchmarking report that we heard about tonight. Um, I'd like to request that board members get copies or I heard Dr. Rogers say that the report will be shared publicly online. Um, if that can be made available at least two weeks prior um to the presentation so that board members can submit questions in advance and um yes, so we can submit questions in advance for that. My

142second um request is also data intensive, but I'd like to request historic attrition um data that we and trend analysis information as well as the fiscal impact on instructional salaries and the impact on fund balance and the use of that fund balance as a result of that attrition and how that's been reallocated. Okay. All that. Yes. Or you can also send um Did you get that Miss Gover? Did you get Miss Hen's requests? Okay, thank you. I thought I saw another Did I see any more hands? Miss Pumphrey, I I mentioned this already to the LGR committee, but I would like to um right discuss the possibility of the board supporting the superintendent um which you talked about on the slideshow this evening, the 24 school system request to the governor and um uh requesting

143that we you know we not switch from the hold harmless to direct certification using SNAP and forms. Okay. Um and that's the request to for the legislative and governmental group to add that as well. I would like it to be a full board discussion, you know, full board request, but I believe the process would be to run it through LGR first. Okay. Okay. Let me check teams. Okay. I don't see anyone's hands up. Miss Hen, um to follow up on Miss Pumprey's request, I'd like the um full board to discuss um Tabco's legislative priorities in in full and that may also need to um init be initiated in LGR, but for then it to come to the full board others. Okay, let me get back to board ducks. The last item on the agenda is

144announcements. Another reminder that the board's public hearing on the superintendent's proposed FY2027 operating budget will be in person on Tuesday, January 20th, 2026, beginning at 6:30. Online signup opens January 13, 2026. The board's next meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 27th at 6:30 p.m. Thank you everyone for joining us tonight and the meeting is now adjourned.