Board of Education Approves FY16 Budget Request

February 25th, 2015

The Howard County Board of Education yesterday approved an Operating Budget Request for the 2015-2016 school year (FY16) totaling $776.3 million. The amount requested represents a reduction of $4.4 million from the Superintendent’s budget request.

The $4.4 million reduction primarily reflects reductions to the budget amounts originally proposed for building maintenance, contributions to the Employee Health and Workers’ Compensation funds, office supplies, conference travel, and temporary wages.

No reduction was made to the $11.5 million allocated to cover the salary increases agreed upon in negotiation last summer. The budget also includes $3.6 million in funding for 68.8 new educators and materials needed to serve the 1,645 additional students expected next year. The costs associated with the increase in enrollment are not covered by Maintenance of Effort, which is the amount that the county is required by State law to fund, based on prior year enrollment.

“This revised budget proposal includes the funding needed to provide the excellent educational program that our community expects and our students deserve,” said Dr. Janet Siddiqui, Board chairman. “At the same time, we recognize the budgetary pressures facing our county and state, and have made every effort to contain costs and defer maintenance and other expenses as much as possible. We are committed to fiscal responsibility to our community, while continuing to uphold the high standards that underlie our system’s top-notch reputation throughout the state and nation.”

The Board will submit its budget request to Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman by mid-March.