Howard Co. Education Board Adopts $1.14B Operating Budget, $75.7M Capital Budget

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — The Howard County Board of Education adopted its operating and capital budget requests for the 2024-2025 school year during its meeting last week.

The FY25 operating budget totals $1.14 billion, which is a $38.3 million, or 3.5% increase over the FY24 operating budget. The request for county revenue funding totals $769.8 million, which is $48.6 million, or 6.7% over the FY24 budget. State revenues in the budget total $353.2 million, an increase of $7.2 million or 2.1% over the FY24 budget.

The board’s adopted budget restores several proposed reductions that were part of the superintendent’s proposed FY25 operating budget. The board plans to restore 2024 summer programs in the amount of $750,000.

“This year’s budget process has been unlike any other, made evident by the hundreds of constituents who provided testimony to the Board on behalf of the programs and services they value,” said Jennifer Swickard Mallo, chair of the Howard County Board of Education. “We heard our community and unfortunately we were not able to include every restoration they advocated for and we hoped we could fund. The board had painful decisions to make, balancing the mandates of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future with the high-quality programs and offerings the school system has long provided to our families.

"Nothing about the budget decisions the board made were easy, but we appreciate the collaboration of Acting Superintendent Barnes and school system staff. We will continue to engage in critical conversations with our county partners to advocate for the best possible outcome for our school system, its students, staff and families," Mallo said.

The board also adopted the FY25 capital budget totaling $75.7 million for costs associated with the renovation/addition of Oakland Mills Middle School; renovating the Faulkner Ridge Center and Applications and Research Laboratory; other systemic renovations/modernizations, roofing projects and equipment; and ongoing projects such as planning and design to address system needs.

Along with the FY25 capital budget, the board adopted the FY 2026-2030 Capital Improvement Program Request in the amount of $522 million, and the FY 2025-2034 Long-Range Master Plan totaling $1.1 billion.

The board of education’s budget now will be submitted to the county executive. In late April, the county executive will submit his proposed budget to the County Council with a recommended funding level for the school system. The County Council will then hold a series of public hearings and work sessions before final adoption of the county budget. Following County Council action, the board of education will make any necessary adjustments to its requested budget to account for funding level approved by the county and adopt the final FY25 operating and capital budgets.