Schools Approve $2.23B Budget for Fiscal Year 2014

Montgomery County Public Schools adopted a $2.23 billion budget on Thursday—an increase of 2.6 percent over last year and the minimum allowed under the state funding law known as maintenance of effort. 

"A budget is a reflection of a community’s values and it is clear that Montgomery County and the state of Maryland place a high value on public education," Superintendent Joshua Starr said in a news release. "In turn, we have been good stewards of taxpayer dollars and have earned a strong return on the investment made in our students and staff."

The budget includes:

• $20.8 million for 260 additional positions within schools to meet the needs of a growing school system with more special education and English-as-a-second-language students. 
• $18.6 million for employee raises.
• About $5.2 million for focused math instruction that includes staff development positions, elementary and middle school teachers and a "Mathematics Implementation Team." 
• Five new school psychologists, two counselor positions that had previously been cut and eight maintenance worker positions to handle more growth and space.

Read the budget memo from the Montgomery County Board of Education for more information.