Maryland's Largest School District
MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
MONTGOMERY COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Superintendent’s Recommended Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Operating Budget — Public Hearing Notice
NEW – HEARING NOTICE - Public testimony for the Superintendent’s Recommended FY 2027 Operating Budget.
The superintendent of schools will release his Recommended FY 2027 Operating Budget on December 17, 2025. The Montgomery County Board of Education will hold public hearings to hear testimony regarding the Superintendent’s Recommended FY 2027 Operating Budget on Thursday, January 15, 2026, and on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. The hearings will be held in-person and will be open to the public. The Board will also accept pre-recorded audio and video testimony submissions. All testimonies will be made available to the public on BoardDocs. Individuals who wish to provide public testimony will register using the online registration form.
General Information
Beginning on Thursday, December 18, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., individuals wishing to provide testimony at the January 15 or January 27, 2026, hearings must register online. CLICK HERE to register. Individuals registering may reserve only one space. Sign-ups for the hearing on Thursday, January 15, 2026, will close on Monday, January 5, 2026, at 9:00 a.m. Sign-ups for the hearing on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, will close on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, at 9:00 a.m.
Space is limited. Please sign up as early as possible.
The following time limits for testimony apply to public hearings, unless otherwise specified by the Board in the hearing notice:
Organizations*/Municipalities/Elected Officials: 5 minutes
*Organizations may include: Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association/Montgomery County Junior Councils, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Parents Council, community organizations, MCCPTA, clusters, and the employee associations. This includes individuals who are providing collective advocacy or a position on behalf of an organization (but not members of organizations who are speaking in their individual capacity).
A speaker who signs up to testify, other than a cluster coordinator or area vice president, may reserve only one space. Only one speaker will be registered for any organization, unless the Board provides otherwise.
Individuals: 3 minutes
Individuals and organizations may not cede time to others who have not been guaranteed a speaking slot.
Submission of Testimony and Deadlines
If you are selected for one of the speaking slots, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for testimony submission. Please adhere to the submission deadline and instructions which will be included in your confirmation email. Please send your testimony to BOETestimony@mcpsmd.org. Individuals submitting testimony who do not adhere to submission instructions may forfeit their speaking slot.
The agenda with the list of speakers will be posted no later than noon on the day of the hearing at https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/.
Hearings, Work Session, and Board Action
The schedule for Board of Education review, public hearings, and action on the Operating Budget is as follows:
Wednesday, December 17, 2025, 6:30 p.m. – Superintendent of Schools releases recommended FY 2027 Operating Budget
Tuesday, January 6, 2026, 10:00 a.m. – Superintendent’s Recommended FY 2027 Operating Budget Work Session
Thursday, January 15, 2026, 6:00 p.m. – Superintendent’s Recommended FY27 Operating Budget Public Hearing
Tuesday, January 20, 2026, 10:00 a.m. – Superintendent’s Recommended FY27 Operating Budget Work Session
Tuesday, January 27, 2026, 6:00 p.m. – Superintendent’s Recommended FY27 Operating Budget Public Hearing
Thursday, January 29, 2026, 10:00 a.m. - Superintendent's Recommended FY27 Operating Budget Work Session
Thursday, February 19, 2026, – Board Business Meeting – The Board will take tentative action on the Superintendent’s Recommended FY27 Operating Budget
Thursday, June 25, 2026, – Board Business Meeting – The Board will take final action on the Superintendent’s Recommended FY27 Operating Budget
Collective Advocacy
Those who wish to express their collective advocacy for a particular viewpoint are reminded that in-person attendance will be limited to speakers and a limited number of audience observers. Therefore, please consider having a spokesperson sign up to provide testimony on behalf of your group.
Testimony Subject Matter
Public testimony should speak to the Operating Budget issues that are before the Board for action. This is not the proper avenue to address specific student or employee matters, including those matters on appeal to the Board. Comments about the actions or statements of individual staff members are not appropriate and should be referred to the superintendent of schools or processed through available channels.
Broadcasts of Public Hearings
All hearings are available to view live (and will be available after the hearings on demand) on the MCPS webpage:
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/index.aspx
Hearings also will be broadcast live on Comcast Channel 34 & 1071 HD, Verizon FIOS Channel 36, RCN Channel 89 & 1058 HD), MCPS home page http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org, MCPS YouTube Channel http://youtube.com/mcpstv.
Watch in Spanish: MCPS Spanish YouTube Channel http://youtube.com/mcpstvespanol
Additional information about public hearings may be found in the Board of Education Handbook.
The Board of Education designates time during each business meeting and regular work session for public comments. The process for signing up and providing public testimony is outlined below. If you have questions regarding this process, please submit them to BOETestimony@mcpsmd.org.
Unless otherwise notified, the sign-up period typically opens to the public one (1) week prior to the meeting at 6:00 p.m. and closes three (3) days prior to the meeting at 9:00 a.m.
The Board’s business meetings and regular work sessions will be open to the public, and in-person public comments will be permitted. The Board will also continue to accept pre-recorded audio and video submissions for individuals who wish to remain virtual. All testimonies will be made available to the public on BoardDocs. Individuals who want to provide public comments will register using the online registration form and will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis.
In addition to the online sign-ups, the Board will return to the practice of in person, same day sign-ups when space allows. Unallocated slots may be filled on a first-come, first-served basis, on the day of the meeting.
Safety Procedures for In-Person Public Comments and Observation: Please avoid in-person attendance if you are experiencing symptoms of illness. If you choose to bring a sign, please ensure it is no larger than 8.5” x 11”. Signs may not be mounted on sticks.
The first twenty (20) speakers who sign up for public comments during the designated sign-up process are afforded two (2) minutes to speak. Public testimony slots that remain available following the closing of the sign-up process may be filled on a first-come, first-served basis on the day of the meeting by signing in with Board staff no later than fifteen (15) minutes prior to the scheduled start time of the open session.
In addition to the twenty (20) testimony slots available to the public, separate testimony slots will be reserved at each business meeting and regular work session for a designated representative of each MCPS employee association. Each association representative will be afforded two (2) minutes to speak.
The Board is interested in hearing a broad range of perspectives from the community. Accordingly, when the Board receives more requests than the allotted number of testimony slots, first priority will be given to individuals who have not testified at a Board business meeting or regular work session within the previous 30 calendar days.
Once the public comment sign-up period has closed, speakers will receive a confirmation email within 24 hours with instructions about how to submit their written testimony in advance to the Board Office. For speakers providing video or audio testimony, instructions will be provided on how to prepare video/audio comments for submission. Please adhere to the submission deadline and instructions included in the confirmation email. All written, video, and audio comments for the meeting should be submitted to BOETestimony@mcpsmd.org.
While public input on policies, programs, and practices is encouraged, public comments are not the proper avenue to address specific student or employee matters. Comments regarding specific student or employee matters shall be directed to the Board or superintendent, as appropriate, through separate communication.
Those who are unable to sign up or are not selected to provide comments during the meeting may email their comments to BOETestimony@mcpsmd.org. Emails sent to this address are automatically distributed to all Board members and leadership staff.
Additional information about public comments may be found in the Board of Education Handbook.