‘Our current path is not sustainable’: Montgomery Co. schools superintendent, council look at challenges to school funding

Montgomery County’s Superintendent of Schools Thomas Taylor told the county council that he’s focused on the tough fiscal picture ahead for the school system that educates more than 161,500 students.

“What is clear in my examination of the budget, and as illustrated in the data that you have before you today, is that our current path is not sustainable,” Taylor said at a county council work session on Tuesday.

Taylor and Board of Education President Karla Silvestre were among the school officials at the work session on the school system’s “cost drivers” — expenses that fuel the budget.

Craig Howard, the county council’s new executive director, explained that over a period of 10 years, FYs 2015-25, the operating budget grew by 3.9% on average each year.

In June, the county council approved a $3.3 billion operating budget for FY 2025.

Noting that nearly 90% of the operating budget is spent on staffing, Taylor said, “The system must engage in a thorough reevaluation of resource allocation.”..

‘Our current path is not sustainable’: Montgomery Co. schools superintendent, council look at challenges to school funding - WTOP News