Howard County Schools Superintendent Bill Barnes is breathing a little easier this January as he proposes his $1.219 billion budget.

Unlike last year, when he declared a “difficult budget season” with recommendations to cut positions and beloved school programs, nothing is on the chopping block this go-around.

While his request is larger than last year — $74.3 million dollars larger — Barnes is asking for a “same services budget,” focused on employee retention, better pay, more special education and school security staff, and better student transportation.

“Even if we didn’t add anything, it would cost us more money to run the same services. Health care costs go up, utilities go up, other inflationary costs,” Barnes said.

The school system also needs to spend $9.6 million on student technology, pre-kindergarten and teacher pay, as mandated by the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, education reform legislation aimed at making the state’s schools the best in the nation.

“We’re all here for kids. We’re all here to support our teachers and our staff. And there are lots of ways you can do that. This is the way we’ve operationally prioritized it,” Barnes said.

This year, the school system is ending its risky tradition of using one-time funds to pay for what it needs. That means Barnes has to fill a $24.4 million gap.

He’s asking the county government for $67 million above what it’s required to give the school system (a portion of which would be used to clear the $24.4 million) and is anticipating $24.8 million more in state funding.

None of this is set in stone, though. “All these numbers will shift during the [budget] season,” Barnes said.

Adding jobs, not cutting them

Last January, when Barnes proposed his inaugural budget as acting superintendent, he proposed cutting nearly 350 positions across the district. In the end, 60 positions were eliminated. This time, it gave him “great joy” to not have to begin the budget season with hard conversations about staffing cuts.

Barnes is proposing adding 35 new special education positions, in addition to back-filling nearly 114 special education vacancies. In total, the school system’s goal is to bolster its special education department by almost 150 positions for the 2025-2026 academic year.

That would help relieve the burden on special education teachers, who Barnes said have high caseloads.

In response to increased violence in and around schools, Barnes wants to add a security assistant position in each middle and high school. These 33 jobs would not be school resource officers; rather, they would help with propped or unlocked doors and checking bathrooms. Currently, school resource officers are only present in county high schools.

“The primary role is going to be to build relationships, to make students understand they belong, to be a visible presence and also be responsive when the time comes,” Barnes said.

Barnes has also proposed a bump in the school system’s transportation budget, which would give yellow bus service to some students who are currently considered within walking distance of school.

These are the school system’s most dire needs, Barnes said, but there are other needs being left on the table.

Some things the district would like to fund but can’t at the moment include athletic trainers, the backlog of building upkeep at aging schools — also known as deferred maintenance — and positions in human resources, administrative and secretarial support, and school administration.

While these areas aren’t being funded, Barnes said he recognizes they are “very desperately needed.”

What’s next?

Next Thursday, the school board is scheduled to kick off its series of budget work sessions and public hearings. The public can weigh in on the proposed budget at hearings on Jan. 30 and Feb. 10.

The school board is expected to adopt the budget Feb. 27 before sending it to the county executive’s office for review. In April, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball will present his own budget to the County Council, which includes funding for the school system.

The school board will make any necessary changes based on the funding the County Council decides to allocate to the school system.

The board is slated to adopt the final operating budget on May 22.