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Howard County Board of Education Adopts Requested FY 2027 Operating and Capital Budgets, and FY 2027-2036 10-Year Long-Range Master Plan

February 27th, 2026

During its Feb. 26, 2026, meeting, the Howard County Board of Education adopted its requested FY27 Operating and Capital Budgets and the FY2027-2036 Capital 10-Year Long-Range Master Plan.

Operating Budget

The Board of Education’s FY 2027 Requested Operating Budget totals $1.285 billion with an addition of 95 positions. The request grows the budget by $68.7 million, a 5.65% increase over the FY 2026 Operating Budget. The request for County recurring revenue funding totals $877.7 million, which is $63.2 million, or 8.31% over the FY 2026 budget. State revenues in the budget total $393.3 million, an increase of $17.1 million or 4.5% over the FY 2026 budget.

Building on the Superintendent’s Proposed Budget, the Board’s Requested budget seeks additional investments of:

“After the Superintendent drafted his budget recommendation, the State indicated that we would receive about $7 million more than originally projected and the County announced significantly higher new revenue than originally thought,” said Jennifer Swickard Mallo, Chair of the Board of Education. “It was because of these expectations of new revenue that the Board felt comfortable reinstating some positions proposed to be cut. This budget also reflects our commitment to pay raises for the staff at this time of substantial inflationary pressure. Our county’s economic growth is driven by our strong schools and the only way to keep that going is to invest in the school system. We hope that the County Executive and County Council will agree to fully fund the needs we have laid out in our budget and look forward to our continued collaboration with them to make this happen for our students, staff, and families.”

Capital Budget

The Board of Education’s FY 2027 Requested Capital Budget totals $116.6 million: $18.1 million in State funding and $98.6 million in County funding. The State funding currently does not include approximately $5.0 million in reserve funding anticipated to be added in May. The Board of Education’s Requested FY 2027-2036 Long-Range Master Plan totals $1.401 billion.

In addition to the Capital Budget, the Board adopted the Built to Learn (BTL) Alternate Plan #1 to fully utilize the remaining BTL funding. The alternate plan was based on the Board Proposed BTL Plan, approved on November 6, 2025, and which includes funding for Oakland Mills Middle School, New Elementary School #43, Patapsco Middle School, and Atholton Elementary School Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) projects. In addition, the remaining BTL funds were approved to be utilized for multi-systemic projects at Worthington Elementary School and Bonnie Branch Middle School, and an HVAC project at Jeffers Hill Elementary School. The FY2027 Capital Budget and 10-Year Long-Range Master Plan were based on these projects.

Next Steps

The Board of Education’s requested budget will be submitted to the County Executive. The County Executive considers the school system’s budget as part of his recommended budget for all County-funded agencies. In April, the County Executive will submit his proposed budget to the County Council with a recommended funding level for the school system, which cannot be greater than what the Board requests. The County Council will then hold a series of public hearings and work sessions before final adoption of the County budget. Following County Council action, the Board of Education will make any necessary adjustments to its requested budget to account for the funding level approved by the County and adopt the final FY 2027 Operating and Capital Budgets.

Additional information about the HCPSS budget is available online.