As a Board of Education member, I promise to advocate for fiscal responsibility, transparency, and resilience in the year-to-year operating budget (money in the classroom that pays for salaries, educational material, transportation, etc.) Our taxpayer dollars (County, State, and Federal) should be used wisely and support teachers and students in the classroom.
I was a member of the Operating Budget Review Committee for HCPSS this year and my analysis is that we simply can do better by reducing administrative costs, BOE costs, device costs, and transportation costs (walkers should always walk to school without being transported further than necessary from their community).
I will also work to get funding back to the Long Range Master Plan to build HS #14, expand existing buildings, and renovate older buildings (I heard so many complaints about the buildings of Oakland Mills High School, Oakland Mills Middle School, Centennial High School, Dunloggin Middle School, Jeffers Hill Elementary School, etc).
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For those of you that like numbers:
Howard County (Government) FY 2023 Operating Budget: $2,028,757,540
FY 2023 Howard County Funding to HCPSS $ 675,576,796
FY 2023 MD State to HCPSS: $ 321,081,146
Other funds: $ 35,790,673
Total HCPSS FY2023 Operating Budget $1,032,448,615.00
For Details:
HCPSS 2023 Budget : Approved FY 2023 Operating Budget (hcpss.org)
Capital Budget FY 23 Board Approved Capital Budget – May 26, 2022 (hcpss.org)
Dr. Chen - BOE 