During a special meeting of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future (Blueprint) Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB), members voted unanimously on Monday to grant Carroll County Public School’s (CCPS) request for a waiver. A handful of additional accountability measures were also adopted in the agreement, but, broadly, CCPS now has until FY28 to meet the mandatory funding allocation requirements for compensatory education and multi-language learners across the county.
As previously covered on Conduit Street, CCPS requested a waiver that would extend the timeline for the school system to comply with statutorily required funding distributions under the Blueprint. That request was granted yesterday in a unanimous vote during a special meeting of the AIB.
This will help CCPS avoid what would have been the removal, reduction, or relocation of almost 200 full-time positions and boost class sizes, in some areas, up to 40 students. Additionally, without the waiver, the AIB has the authority to withhold state funding from CCPS due to lack of compliance in accordance with the phased-in timeline.
During the meeting Chairman Isiah “Ike” Leggett expressed satisfaction with the evidence provided by CCPS for the waiver.
“Carroll County is asking for more time to meet the requirement, not to remove the requirement altogether, and has provided valid reasoning for why they need more time to phase in these changes.” said AIB Chair Isiah “Ike” Leggett.
Chairman Leggett shared later in the meeting that the process of implementation has illuminated areas of the Blueprint that are more complex than initially anticipated, which further underscores the need to adjust. One of those components, and what was a primary factor in the board’s decision, was a decade of declining enrollment in CCPS that was followed by a significant increase in compensatory education enrollment from FY24-25. This student population, that requires more funding than a standard student, grew by 86.3 percent in a single year in Carroll. In contrast, the statewide average, while also high, saw a 33.6 percent increase that same year.
Chairman Leggett concluded his remarks by acknowledging that the staffing shifts that would be necessary to achieve compliance by FY26 would be unreasonably disruptive to effective teaching and learning throughout the district.
Additional stipulations on CCPS, that came as a condition of the extended timeline, include:
- coding compensatory education and multi-language learner funding at the school level by February 1, 2026
- acquire approval from the AIB before amending any elements of the compliance plan
- submit FY27 and FY28 budgets to the county government
- provide written updates on progress every 6 months beginning October 1, 2025
- engage in monitoring as deemed necessary
