HCPSS Proposed FY24 Operating Budget Calls For $109.6M Funding Increase

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Residents learned the details of the fiscal year 2024 budget for the Howard County Public School System Tuesday when Superintendent Michael J. Martirano presented the proposed operating budget before the county board of education.

The board will now hold a series of public hearings and work sessions before submitting the board's requested budget to the county executive by the beginning of March 2023.

The FY2024 budget proposal totals $1.14 billion, representing an expenditure increase of $108.5 million, or 10.5 percent. If advanced by the board of education, the request to the county for funding of $785.2 million represents a $109.6 million increase in recurring funds, or a 16.2 percent increase over FY2023. State funding totals $348.4 million, an increase of $27.3 million, or 8.5 percent.

Funding for compensation increases accounts for approximately 44 percent of the growth. The remaining growth is driven by the Blueprint for Maryland's future legislation and other mandates, the opening of the district's 13th high school, staffing for special education and funding for staff and resources.

The FY2024 budget adds 326.6 new positions, an increase of approximately 3.5 percent from the current budget. More than 90 percent of the new positions will support student achievement, the opening of the newest high school and enrollment changes.

This is the first budget since Martirano became superintendent that no longer carries a deficit in the health and dental fund, and now reports a positive fund balance. The budget proposal eliminates a dependency on fund balance and folds in expiring grant funding so those critical programs can continue.

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball noted that the funding plan secured for the current school year FY23 contained the largest single-year education increase in at least two decades with $84 million more in resources from state and local sources. That allowed HCPSS to offer starting salaries to teachers that became the highest in the Baltimore-Washington region and to fund the hiring of 150 new special education teachers.

“No priority is more important in Howard County than creating the best teaching and learning environment for all through an excellent public school system, and our community has always come together to achieve that goal," Ball said. "Our historic funding is in addition to the massive infusion of cash the school system received from both the federal and state governments during the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Oct. 31, 2022, HCPSS had been awarded 38 grants totaling $123.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds."

In the annual county budget, public education receives more funding than any other area, Ball noted. But there are "many other critical needs that demand investment, from public safety to environmental protection and sustainability, health and human services, public works, technology, resiliency and more."

"The proposed public school county funding increase of $111.9 million is unfortunately unattainable and unrealistic at a time when enrollment remains significantly below pre-pandemic levels, and when there are so many competing priorities in many areas. By way of comparison, the average annual actual revenue increase of the entire county budget, to support all services of the county, in the five years prior to the pandemic was $36.7 million," Ball said. "Our commitment to education is unwavering. During our first four years in office, county public education spending increased by an average of 3.4 percent, which is 31 percent higher than the average of the 10 prior years. The proposal of a 16.6 percent increase is an appealing wish list but is not a serious exercise in budgeting or planning given the resources or capacity of our taxpayers."

Details about the superintendents budget proposal can be found online.