Superintendent Dr. Jack Smith presented his operational budget for the MCPS 2019 fiscal school year (FY) in the RHS auditorium Dec. 19, proposing a $67.30 million increase from the 2018 FY from $2.52 to $2.59 billion.

The operational budget will go through many stages until it is finalized by the beginning of July. After Smith’s Dec. 19 presentation, the school board has until March 1 to adjust the recommended budget with feedback from hearings, work sessions and correspondence. Many organizations including various PTAs, SGAs, employee associations and other advocacy groups can also contribute feedback.

“We use feedback from a lot of people now, but I think we have to spend more time gathering feedback from our schools staff and our school community about what is important to them and what will help them reach their goals and aspirations,” Smith said.

Some of budget’s main focuses are giving elementary school student the opportunity to have language experiences in languages other than English, continuing to support college preparation for high school students, and extending instructional time for some schools through the calendar year, Smith said.

The next step is for the school board to send the modified budget to County Executive Isiah Leggett, who will then combine it with the county’s overall budget by March 15. Then, it is up to the Montgomery County Council (MCC) to officially adopt the new budget around the end of June.