Baltimore City Public Schools presented a $1.87 billion budget proposal for fiscal year 2026 Tuesday night to the Board of School Commissioners, up from last year’s $1.78 billion.
The budget proposal provided a $1.5 billion general fund, up from about $1.4 billion last year; just over $71 million in the enterprise fund used for school food and nutrition; and just under $300 million in special revenue, which Chief Finance Officer Christopher Doherty said is made up of federal funding, mostly concentrations of poverty grants.
Though Doherty said late night dealings in Annapolis Monday might have secured about $22 million more for the school district, the budget was not created with that in mind. The numbers he presented Tuesday did not reflect that “unexpected surprise.”
That late-breaking state funding would create a median increase of $88,000 per school, he said. Maryland is expected to contribute $1.07 billion of the system’s budget, or $1.09 billion should the extra bump of funding materialize.
Certain financial triggers could reopen the state’s budget, Doherty said, which would in turn force the school district to reopen its own budget, as the state funds nearly 70% of its budget.
Baltimore will contribute $392.3 million, about $3 million more than last year, due to increased student population, Doherty said.
“Blueprint dollars are not guaranteed,” read one of Doherty’s slides. Since the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future plan has been implemented, city schools have received progressively less funding from the program each year, he said, however in the current fiscal year the district saw an increase of $42 million.
The budget included an anticipated increase of about 6.5% in Blueprint funding, according to the presentation. The addition of the potential $22 million could bring that total to 7.5% or 7.6%, Doherty said. But uncertainty looms over future years.
“There are cuts for the planned FY27 and FY28 revenue … one doesn’t know what will happen in next year’s session, but ‘27 and ‘28 will be lower than Blueprint authorized and that has been envisioned,” he said.
By Friday, the school board will have a draft of the budget book to review, according to Doherty’s presentation. The final budget presentation and vote on the budget are scheduled for May 13.
Federal cuts
Despite the Trump administration rescinding of $48 million in federal COVID-19 pandemic relief funding last week, Doherty said the district is “confident” the impacts will be limited to the current fiscal year.
Tuesday marked the last day for tutoring across the district as a result of the cuts the district made to respond to the loss.
At the same time, Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding, another COVID-era revenue source, is expiring. Because those so-called ESSER funds were scheduled to expire, though, that allowed the school system to prepare for the loss.
“Initiatives previously funded by ESSER have sunsetted or downsized, been left to the discretion of school leaders to fund, or have transitioned to other funding sources, such as Concentration of Poverty Grants (CPG),” read a slide on the budget presented Tuesday night.
The school district will receive $166 million in concentration of poverty funding, Doherty said. With the lean times ahead, Baltimore City Public Schools CEO Sonja Santelises said the school system should not bend to everyone who asks for funding.
“Voicing priorities and your opinion does not mean you get everything you want,” said Santelises. Having those hard discussions is a skill, she said, but the district’s ability to say no is part of why it can navigate these hard times. The district’s fund balancing dollars are for emergencies like last week’s, she said.
“The fund balance is not your personal kitty when you go over budget.”
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