The Montgomery County School Board has overspent its current fiscal year 2025-26 budget by over $4 million dollars.
The question now is where the extra money will come from. The deficit will directly affect school employees for the final few weeks of this fiscal year.
According to the county, on June 24, staff was made aware by Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) staff members that the schools have exceeded their legal spending authority by more than the $158.4 million appropriated to their current year operations budget.
County spokesperson Jennifer Harris says the overspending by MCPS in FY 26 is not related to state or federal budget issues.
At a special called meeting Tuesday, June 30, the Board of Supervisors will discuss an appropriation resolution for the advancement of funding to MCPS to cover the deficit incurred (this meeting will occur after press time).
Supervisors will discuss reimbursement to the county by MCPS in fiscal year 2026-2027 (FY 27) for this appropriation resolution. However, the reimbursement will not include any of the funding appropriated to MCPS on June 8, 2026 by the Board of Supervisors for FY 27.
This advancement will assist in the payment of the June 30, 2026, MCPS employee payroll, as well as outstanding expenses in FY 26. The resolution will also address reimbursement by MCPS.
FY 26 began on July 1, 2025, and ends on June 30, 2026. In FY 26, 67 percent of Montgomery County’s total budget was allocated to Montgomery County Public Schools. The remaining 33 percent of Montgomery County’s FY 26 budget was allocated to public safety; general government administration; judicial administration; general services; health and welfare; parks, recreation and cultural; community development; and other agencies.
In a statement late Friday, June 26, the school system said this situation is the result of a timing issue related to grant reimbursements that were expected to be received by the end of the fiscal year on June 30. Those reimbursements are now expected to be received in July, which falls in the new fiscal year.
“MCPS looks forward to the special meeting with the county Board of Supervisors to discuss this matter and work collaboratively to address the situation. The school division takes its financial responsibilities seriously. MCPS staff will review existing procedures and work to ensure they are followed consistently to help prevent this type of timing issue from occurring in the future.”