A fiscal year 2027 budget proposal announced by Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Thomas Taylor on May 21 will significantly alter staffing and student resources across the district.
The proposal cuts more than 430 essential support staff, including all college and career navigators, school psychologists, social workers, special educators, all English composition assistants, family engagement specialists and media assistants.
The immediate effects became a reality for Rockville staff the morning after the budget was announced. Victoria Wolk, the College and Career Navigator and graduation co-coordinator at the school, was counting caps and gowns for the upcoming graduation ceremony when she began receiving texts from anxious colleagues. When she read the messages, she discovered that her own position was on Dr. Taylor’s list of cuts.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” Wolk shared. “My priority, my joy, and what I am here to do is to provide for all of you… It’s a bittersweet planning for graduation at this moment.”
Media assistant Sean Lyons also said that the community has been really worried about the proposal.
“I think it’s been very hard for a lot of people. We’re all kind of wondering if the proposed reductions will be implemented the way that we’re seeing them right now, or if there can be some other way that the budget [is] organized,” Lyons said.
Superintendent Taylor has publicly noted that if these positions cannot be funded, the essential services they provide will not get done. Wolk finds this admission very disheartening.
“The truth of the matter is that [students] are all going to graduate, and day in and day out, you all experience issues among your peers,” Wolk said. “These things don’t go away. You need your people here; you need your trusted adults.”
Many students rely on certain teachers or trusted adults for guidance. Cutting staff means removing trusted adults for students.
“If there are just fewer of those people in the school, you know, some students just may feel they don’t have someone they can turn to when they need either guidance on an assignment or, frankly, just advice about how to handle something,” said Lyons.
According to Wolk, the current issues come from a disconnect between the central county decision-makers and the operational realities in schools. While school leadership is doing everything possible to help their staff and students, Wolk believes there is a systemic oversight by the Board of Education and County Council regarding how certain roles align with state educational mandates.
“It seems there is a grave misunderstanding about what, you know, a college and career navigator does,” Wolk said.
Lyons agreed, saying, “A lot of supporting staff do things quietly. It’s not always that obvious.”
The Board of Education is expected to vote on the proposal on June 4. Students and teachers are mobilizing to make their concerns heard. For the educators and staff, the fight is about more than just their jobs. It is about the students who have dedicated their careers to helping.
“There are two sides to this. There is one that… there are employees who need to have an income to pay for their own bills,” Wolk said. “On the other side of it is that everybody on this list, regardless of their role, is somebody who is in education, who cares deeply about what they do… While yes, we are concerned about losing our livelihood, we are two times [more] concerned about not being able to provide for these kids.”
Those who want to advocate for staff are encouraged to:
- Email the Board of Education members and ask them to vote no
- Sign and share the Change.org petition
- Attend the Board of Education meeting at 15 West Gude Drive, Patricia B. O’Neill BOE Room, Rockville, MD 20850
It is up to the MCPS community to make a change and to protect its students and staff.
As Wolk said, “a strong, smart, kind voice really goes far.”
