MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — Tuesday, the superintendent for Maryland's largest school district laid out priorities for final approval as the Montgomery County School Board signed off on a 5% increase of $137 million to next year's budget.
"An extraordinary budget for extraordinary times," said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Monifa B. McKnight at the meeting as she detailed more money for, among other needs, teacher pay, school security, and student well-being beyond academics.
“This budget is designed to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic on teaching and learning, and to support the needs of our students and staff as we rebuild trust with the community and respond to social-emotional well-being, mental health, and safety and security concerns," said McKnight.
"We've been able to have restorative justice coaches at our elementary spaces, which is something we had not been able to do its expansively before and we've been able to provide additional after school activities," she said.
There are similar priorities across the river in Fairfax County Public Schools, where the board just approved $500 million for "telehealth mental health services" for students.
Back in Montgomery County, the only push back from the board was how to make sure the resources go where there is the most need.
"Equity versus equality," said Vice Chair of the Montgomery County Public Schools board Karla Silvestre. "Are we making decisions based on equity, not equality?" she asked at the meeting. "I'm going to bring it up every time we talk about the budget. So, I hope that it is a part of our decision making process and not just a report that we put together for compliance purposes."
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