Montgomery County councilmembers on Monday reviewed portions of a nearly $3 billion capital budget request for Montgomery County Public Schools over the next six years.
A final vote on the Capital Improvements Program (CIP) fiscal 2027 through 2032 is expected in May.
According to Superintendent Thomas Taylor, nearly two-thirds of schools need major repairs, including mold remediation, roof work and HVAC upgrades.
Taylor said a full funding request to begin addressing those needs would have been “nearly two-and-a-half times” the $2.78 billion proposal.
“We recognize this is a long journey ahead,” he told councilmembers.
The council may make suggestions and decide how much to allocated, but it does not have the authority to tell the Board of Education how to spend the dollars.
According to Board of Education President Grace Rivera-Oven, the $2.78 billion ask was an increase of $1.3 billion over the previous request.
“Our needs exceed the funding,” she said, noting that “challenging but critical financial decisions” must be made.
The CIP includes funding for Damascus High School and Eastern Middle School. Those campuses have been identified as having the two priority projects. Work at Cold Spring Elementary School will be delayed two years as opposed to the original suggestion of a three-year delay.
A $34.1 million request to convert some outdoor play spaces to astroturf was discussed with Councilmember Will Jawando, suggesting that MCPS use that money on HVAC work and use natural grass on fields instead.
“We can’t shift funds,” Councilmember Kristin Mink said. “We can’t add funding that the [school] board has not requested.”
Councilman Andrew Friedson made a motion to use astroturf, leaving the $34.1 million request in the CIP. While the motion passed, that decision now will be part of a larger conversation prior to council’s final vote on the CIP next month.
Another section of the CIP included using two board-owned sites to add for bus parking spaces. MCPS has been trying for many years to move away from the Shady Grove location.
The proposal allows for some buses to be parked closer to where they transport students, explained MCPS CEO Essie McGuire.
“Our fleet continues to grow,” McGuire said.
Taylor explained that the money would be used to begin the process and pay for transportation studies.
“There hasn’t been a reasonable solution that people are willing to endorse,” Taylor said. “We have to get the ball rolling in some official way.”
He also noted, “At the end of the day, we have to park the buses somewhere … The alternative is, we don’t have an alternative. We need a place now.”
Councilmembers Marilyn Balcombe and Friedson both said they wanted to see more public input before sites are utilized.
“I don’t think adequate public outreach has occurred,” Friedson said.
Balcomb agreed, noting the MCPS needs to reach out to the neighborhoods involved.
Friedson made a motion to take the request out of the CIP, but that motion failed.
