HCPSSSuperintendent Presents Proposed Operating Budget for FY16
January 9th, 2015
Howard County Public School System Superintendent Dr. Renee A. Foose unveiled her proposed budget for fiscal year 2016 during a special presentation to the Board of Education on Jan. 8. It is available online at www.hcpss.org/about-us/budgets.
The FY16 budget totals $780.8 million, a 2.9 percent increase over the FY15 budget. In the proposed budget, $552.9 million is requested from the County, an increase of 4.2 percent.
“Economic pressures make our budgeting process more challenging, but our system is committed to sustaining our current high standards of educational excellence while ensuring fiscal responsibility to our county,” Foose said.
Three major categories of items contribute to the increase in the FY16 budget.
- Mandatory increases: $20.0 million, to fund those items that are negotiated or required by legislation, including $11.5 for negotiated salary increases and an $8.5 increase in the cost of employee benefits.
- Enrollment growth: $3.6 million, to fund instructional supplies and instructional staff to support the expected 1,645 new students. The additional enrollment is not funded by Maintenance of Effort funding, which is based upon the state criteria for actual enrollment growth for the prior school year.
- New initiatives and program enhancements: $3.8 million, to fund world language program expansion, equity enhancement, and other initiatives of Vision 2018, the school system strategic plan.
Foose noted that a large and growing proportion of the county population face poverty and other challenges that interfere with learning and impede a child’s prospects for lifelong success. “Strategic investments in education will give every child an opportunity to thrive, and enhance the long term outlook for our entire community,” she said.
Zero-based budgeting, introduced one year ago, continues to have a significant, positive impact on school system resources. The process aligns all proposed expenditures to strategic priorities rather than history, and fuels operational efficiencies throughout the organization, yielding savings that reduced the total FY16 budget request by approximately $10.1 million.
Of each budget dollar, 80 cents is allocated directly to fund school staff and teaching materials; 5 cents to transportation, and 11 cents for facility operation and maintenance. Central Office administration and support accounts for just 4 cents per budget dollar—representing the second lowest overhead level among school systems throughout Maryland.
Citizens will be invited to provide feedback on the budget during an online community forum on Jan. 21 at 12 p.m. A public hearing on the proposed budget will be held on Feb. 3 at 7 p.m., followed by Work Sessions on Feb. 5 (1 p.m.), Feb. 9 (7 p.m.), Feb. 11 (1 p.m.) and Feb. 17 (1 p.m.).
The Board of Education is scheduled to adopt the FY16 Operating & Capital Budgets and FY17-21 Capital Improvement Program on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 9:00 a.m. All hearings, work sessions and meetings will be held at the Department of Education, 10910 Clarksville Pk., Ellicott City.