<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3oejVN_1GvpcA8w00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3oejVN_1GvpcA8w00" width="2001" height="1501" >Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) faces a $36 million budget shortfall for Fiscal Year 2027, resulting in staffing and program reductions affecting several schools across the county, including Richard Montgomery.According to Montgomery County’s official site, the County Council did not fully approve MCPS’s budget request, leaving it almost $36 million short. This has led to the elimination of 415 positions, most of which are currently occupied by MCPS staff. “They’re not getting the same amount of money from the state,” English teacher Robin Strickler said. This budget gap occurred because the County Council chose to approve less funding for MCPS than the Board of Education requested, after rejecting part of a tax package proposed by the county to fully fund the request.Originally, according to a press release from this March, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich proposed a 6.3-cent property tax increase and 0.1 percent income tax increase in order to fund MCPS’s request. However, on May 21, the County Council’s final decision on the Fiscal Year 2027 operating budget rejected the proposed property tax increase and the across-the-board income tax increase, instead adopting progressive income structure. This resulted in $164.6 million less than the County Executive’s proposed resources for overall county resources.Shortly after these negotiations, a press release revealed that the Council only approved 98.4 percent of MCPS’s request, leaving it $36 million below the requested amount. “We cannot spend money we do not have,” Board President Grace Rivera-Oven said in a June 4 press release from MCPS. “These were agonizing choices.”While teachers described concerns about the reductions, district officials have said that these cuts are necessary and required budget decisions. Superintendent Thomas Taylor acknowledged the difficulty of these choices in the press release. “Behind every position reduction is a person who has dedicated themselves to serving our students, families and schools,” he said. These budget decisions have had an impact on several schools across MCPS.Individual schools like Richard Montgomery have experienced changes to staffing and student report services. “The biggest effect is staffing,” Chinese teacher Hai Lan Wei said. “No matter how hard I work, I feel like I cannot finish.”Ms. Strickler attended the MCPS budget cut meeting for teachers on Sept. 24 to communicate to the county what she believed was important to keep. “Last year, one of the things they cut was social worker connections,” she said. “Social workers are people who help some of the students who have the most severe needs — their families, their own crises, or something.” The loss of student support staff was also a concern for RM administrators. “The most direct impact was losing our social worker,” principal Alicia M. Deeny said. These social workers provide support to students who are going through troubles outside of school.At Richard Montgomery, a couple different positions were considered for elimination. “There were three positions that were on the table,” Ms. Deeny said. “There was a lot of advocacy for saving all of them.” Ultimately, Richard Montgomery’s social worker position, which was the most recently created position, was eliminated.Ms. Strickler also reported the cutting of many English department helpers at RM. According to MCPS, these English composition assistants help teachers review student essays, provide feedback on writing assignments and work with individual students or small groups to improve their writing skills. “This year, they’re talking about making perhaps more cuts,” she said. </div></body>

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Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) faces a $36 million budget shortfall for Fiscal Year 2027, resulting in staffing and program reductions affecting several schools across the county, including Richard Montgomery. According to Montgomery County’s official site, the County Council did not fully approve MCPS’s budget request, leaving it almost $36...

MCPS faces $36 million budget deficit

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Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) faces a $36 million budget shortfall for Fiscal Year 2027, resulting in staffing and program reductions affecting s

MCPS faces $36 million budget deficit

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