At a Monday-morning presentation, Myriam Rogers wasn’t ready to share how much money the Baltimore County school system will ask for next year, but she set the stage for what she’s calling “a big ask.”

She told an audience inside the George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology that fiscal 2026 will be another challenging budget cycle for Baltimore County Public Schools thanks to rising expenses. The school system made great progress in the past year, she said, citing its impressive Maryland report card and improving English test scores. She’s asking for the funds to maintain those gains, she said.

Last year, the school system got $2.5 billion for fiscal 2025. The cost of the total operating budget and more detailed information for fiscal year 2026 will be proposed at a Tuesday evening school board meeting, according to a spokesperson.

Until then, here’s where Rogers said the money will go.

Growing salaries for teachers and staff

It’s year two of the school system’s three-year contract with all its unions. All staff can expect to see salary increases. For teachers, that means a 1% increase. It’s the largest part of budget, according to Rogers, costing $61.4 million for 20,000 employees. That doesn’t include the $14 million in benefits she’s adding and the $5.8 million that pays for substitute teacher salary increases.

The costs for contracted bus drivers are also increasing, Rogers said before announcing a $3.8 million request to pay for it.

Cutting some staff but adding others

Rogers said “difficult decisions” had to be made this budget cycle that would save the school system $26 million. She didn’t mention layoffs, but she wants to cut 119.3 full-time positions from the budget. Of those, 33.5 are school-based positions and 81.2 are from central office. Other central office cuts include conference travel and cellphone stipends.

The cuts reflect enrollment, which is slightly down. But Rogers said the system expects an increase next school year when the prekindergartners are added to the enrollment count as they enter kindergarten. In the last three years, Baltimore County went from having 11% of the full-day prekindergarten seats filled to 63%. The expansion in Baltimore County will cost $830,000, which includes hiring for four classroom teachers, four paraeducators and two special education teachers.

Rogers also budgeted $9.6 million to hire 32 more special education staffers. School districts across Maryland have struggled to find qualified special ed teachers, so Rogers’ strategy is to hire more paraprofessionals who can work their way up to become a special education teacher. It will create a pipeline for the jobs, she said.

She’s also adding three athletic trainers, staff who assist student-athletes, to the budget for $300,000. That would leave only three high schools without one. The goal is to have them at every high school.

Keeping the gun-detection system

The superintendent wants to keep Omnilert, the artificial intelligence software that searches school cameras for threats, such as a student carrying a gun. It’s installed in all county schools but the grant money funding the tech is running out. So Rogers needs $600,000.

Rising BGE bills and technology upgrades

Mentioned more than once in her presentation was the uptick in the gas and electric costs to run school buildings. It’s why she’s asking for $8.7 million more for utilities.

“And that number is a direct result of the new $9.4 million gas and electric bill that we will have next year,” she said.

Gas and electricity costs are going up across the state, according to Baltimore Gas and Electric Company.

Rogers also wants to spend a one-time $7 million to upgrade critical software for employees and applicants, along with $2.3 million for internet firewalls at middle and high schools. The network infrastructure for elementary students is failing, according to Rogers, so it needs a $1.45 million update, too.

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.