BALTIMORE COUNTY — Maryland school superintendents are asking for flexibility as they’re preparing for state cuts in Blueprint funding.
That’s the message Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Myriam Rogers says she and other superintendents are sending to elected officials as they’re preparing their budgets for fiscal year 2026.
“All signs are pointing to another difficult budget cycle, for our system and other school systems across the state,” Dr. Rogers said in her monthly update to the public Tuesday morning.
The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future is supposed to be a complete overhaul of the state’s public-school systems with the overall goal of increasing student achievement across the board. It comes with a lengthy list of requirements, including increasing teacher pay, that all school systems must check off. The bill that created the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future lays out a 10-year plan and this is the second year of full implementation.
Dr. Rogers says in the past week, they went from hints about proposed cuts to specifics on funding levels in which she called an “enormous gap” in the five-year state education budget projections.
Some of those hints, she says, came from Governor Wes Moore, who has been saying that the state is going to have to make difficult decisions about Blueprint funding.
“We had anticipated an increase in Blueprint funds, but with these forecasted adjustments, we will most likely need to refine our plans amid state funding concerns,” Dr. Rogers says.
She says her team is already looking at areas for potential savings to offset the shortfall while meeting student needs and maintaining commitments to teachers and staff.
“We’re hoping for flexibility to address gaps in resources,” she says. “The tenets of the Blueprint are sound, but [we] need to go back to the table…. The 111,000 students in Baltimore County are counting on us.”
The public can have their say about the next school year’s budget. There’s a survey available that expires at 11:59 p.m., Tuesday. You can access it here.
Dr. Rogers is also hosting two more community conversations where the public can come and share their thoughts about the budget and other school issues, Thursday at Cockeysville Middle School and Nov. 25 at Perry Hall Middle School, 6-7 p.m. both days.
