PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — Immediately after voting to adopt the proposed fiscal year 2026 (FY 26) budget, Calvert County Public Schools Board of Education (BOE) members sounded warning bells for the fiscal year 2027 (FY 27) budget.
The FY 27 budget has not yet been proposed or approved and wouldn’t come into effect until next July. But throughout the budget vote and in official board comments, members Joe Marchio, Paul Harrison and others cited concern over budget increases beyond inflation and doubted the sustainability of these increases if the state allotment to the district remained the same.
Harrison was referring to the FY 26 budget, which has a 6.1% increase, compared to the national year-over-year inflation rate of 2.3%.
“It’s a cup game, right?” Harrison said, reflecting on the percentage of the budget that goes toward paying staff. “So that’s what I want to caution people, when we get to the next round of budgets for FY 27, as we have increases of $16 or $17 million, and the allocation appropriation is the same, that makes for a smaller organization.”
Member Melissa Goshorn also requested a deeper analysis of line items in the FY 26 budget to help board members understand where savings came from and how they were calculated — a process that could help sharpen cost-saving efforts and streamline the voting process when that budget vote comes up next year.
The next regular board of education meeting will be on Thursday, Aug. 2.
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