As the fastest growing county in the state, Frederick’s Board of Education grapples with challenges at the federal, state and local level as it puts together a budget for next fiscal year.

Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS) had a $970 million budget in fiscal year 2026, with 95% of that coming from local county and state support. Funding is largely determined by the student population of the previous year, which means the system can struggle to account for growth.

Heather Clabaugh, Associate Superintendent of Fiscal Services, says 86% of FCPS’s budget goes towards paying the people who do the work. “Once the paychecks are signed, there are still bills that need to be paid,” she said, “whether that’s buying new buses or simply keeping the lights on.”

As time goes on, the amount of “discretionary funding,” or the money that can be used to address new needs and concerns, becomes less and less. Clabaugh explained FCPS reviews all of its expenditures from year to year, to make sure they’re getting, “the best bang for their buck.”

If something isn’t being used, she said it may need to change or go away. It isn’t always expenses though, as sometimes inflation comes into play. While FCPS hasn’t drastically increased the amount of its utilities, Clabaugh said the cost of those services has gone up over the years.

By the time everything is spent, she said only 1% of FCPS’s budget is left to be carried over. While Clabaugh acknowledged most people would like to have $9.7 million left over at the end of a year, it can be a concerningly small number once millions of dollars start getting cut from federal and state support.

Maintenance of Effort

FCPS has actually seen a drop in enrollment from the 2026 to 2027 school year in various categories, which could mean a reduction of funding.

The school system is required to support special education regardless of the amount of federal and state support it receives. This is known as maintenance of effort (MOE). If it were unable to meet the MOE requirement, FCPS would be ineligible for funding from the IDEA.

Also known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the IDEA was passed in 1975 and is intended to cover 40% of a school system's special education budget. While the IDEA is currently at approximately 12% funding, it remains an important source of dollars for FCPS.

Clabaugh said County Executive Jessica Fitzwater has a history of funding Frederick schools above the minimum of MOE. She says last year, that amount came to $10 million dollars above MOE. “It’s been wonderful because…there is significant inflation everybody has faced over the past five years since Covid,” Clabaugh said. “Funding us over MOE has been super helpful because we have been able to meet those needs.”

Teacher’s Salaries

FCPS has been working to provide a $60,000 starting salary to teachers for the last six years, Clabaugh said. This comes as part of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, a state funding formula meant to build Maryland schools into a world-class education system.

The goal is to increase retention and fill vacancies that have appeared, with a deadline set for July 2026. As FCPS faces tighter and tighter budgets, Clabaugh said it can be a challenge to keep up. “In FCPS our bargaining units have ‘me too’ language,” Clabaugh explained. “Which means if one group gets a raise of a certain percentage, the other bargaining units do as well.”

That means it is not as simple as giving teachers a flat raise, as the same is shared with support staff and administrators. In total, that can represent 8,000 employees overall that FCPS has to account for.

General Assembly

Compounding all other issues is the upcoming legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly. Beginning on January 14 and running until mid-April, it coincides with FCPS budgeting process.

One thing that can come from the general assembly, Clabaugh clarified, are “unfunded mandates.” As the name suggests, these are new laws or regulations which are not funded by the state. This can cause unexpected problems the school system has to react to in real time.

Because FCPS is budgeting while the general assembly is in session, if a mandate is announced close to the end of the process, Clabaugh said, the school system may have to go back and make last minute changes. “If you have to make a significant change to your budget, or hopefully get additional funding,” Clabaugh explained. “Because you have these competing priorities and now you have created even more competition for something that’s come along during this assembly.”

A presentation on the superintendent’s recommended budget will be held on Wednesday, January 21. The board of education will hold a public meeting on the budget on Wednesday, January 28.