Cecil County Executive Danielle Hornberger announced record funding for Cecil County Public Schools in her proposed FY24 budget, an investment totaling $111.4 million.
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“record funding for Cecil County Public Schools in her proposed FY24 budget, an investment totaling $111.4 million”
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Today, Cecil County Executive Danielle Hornberger announced record funding for Cecil County Public Schools in her proposed FY24 budget, an investment totaling $111.4 million. The proposed budget includes over $88 million in operating money, which meets the Maryland State Department of Education’s FY24 recommendation for full funding of the Cecil County public school system. In addition, the County Executive is also including in her budget $10.8 million for new school construction, over $2.6 million in funding for school-related improvements, and $10 million for a committed fund, which will create a dedicated public education lockbox.
The state’s “Blueprint for Maryland’s Future” mandate will increase public education funding in Maryland by $3.8 billion over the next ten years, but will require each county to fund its required share of the cost. The committed funds in the education lockbox will be used to stave off future tax increases on Cecil residents, which might otherwise be unavoidable due to the state mandate.
“Our fiscally responsible approach to budgeting today will ensure that we don’t have to raise taxes tomorrow in order to fund our portion of this state mandate,” said County Executive Hornberger. “The education lockbox will provide greater budgetary flexibility in the future as we respond to these costly mandates coming out of Annapolis.”
The proposed FY24 budget continues to fund the new North East High School and Middle School with a contribution of $10.8 million. This investment represents 61% of the county government’s bonding authority and reflects its ongoing commitment to addressing the school system’s infrastructure needs.
The County Executive will also fund six school-based capital improvement projects in her proposed FY24 budget. This allocation will fund a track replacement at Elkton High School, a track replacement and water line replacement at Rising Sun High School, construction of the long-awaited field house for Perryville High School, and the completion of safe and secure building entrances at both Rising Sun Elementary and Conowingo Elementary, ensuring that every Cecil County public school will have a safe and secure entrance.
“We are pleased to meet our commitment to fully fund Cecil County Public Schools in the FY24 budget,” said County Executive Danielle Hornberger. “It is my hope that this commitment to school operations, facilities, and enhanced cocurricular projects will lead to a balanced educational experience for our future generations.”
The County Executive’s proposed budget will be formally delivered to the County Council on April 1.
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