On May 22, the Montgomery County Council approved the fiscal year 2026 budget, which includes 99.8% of Montgomery County Public Schools’ requests in its $3.58 billion plan. A portion of the increased budget goes toward increasing staffing for special education programs.
The funding will support 700 additional full-time positions made up of promoting part-time staff and hiring new employees. This decision comes in response to MCPS’ demonstrated need for more support in special education classrooms.
This budget was made possible by reallocating funds from the Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) trust, which is a fund to provide retired Montgomery County employees with benefits to assist in healthcare costs among other things.
In Tuesday’s media briefing, County Executive Marc Elrich said he was “comfortable using these funds for the schools because the OPEB is well funded.” He also expressed hope that the council’s willingness to revisit MCPS funding would continue in the future.
For more information on the FY2026 Budget see the official Montgomery County Council release.
