January’s snowstorm resulting in historically-low temperatures resulting in “snowcrete” forced Montgomery County Public Schools to spend millions clearing parking lots and school buses and preparing campuses for students to safely return to class.
On Tuesday, the Montgomery County Council approved $8.5 million from the MCPS fund balance to help pay for those extra costs.
In a memo to the council, County Executive Marc Elrich requested the supplemental funding “to offset financial impacts of the January 2026 winter weather event.”
Elrich said the reallocation of funds will go toward covering increased utility fees, snow removal expenses, emergency personnel and employee salaries needed to pay for coverage snow-related costs, in addition to the money that will be needed to to extended school year to make up for snow days. Each additional instruction day costs $2.1 million, according to Elrich. Historically, an extended school year has be very expensive for MCPS. In a 2015 MCM article, keeping schools open an additional day due to snow days has cost the district between $600,000 and $750,000.
To help cover some of the additional costs, MCPS placed a hiring freeze for central office services in March.
