Public Comments

CCPS has been and continues to be underfunded, with parent organizations picking up the tab to provide basics for our schools that they cannot afford in their budget. PTAs and PTOs are actually meant to be advocacy organizations, not fundraising bodies, but schools in Carroll County now depend on parents to fill the gaps to cover necessary items, such as projectors, copiers, and playgrounds. On Wednesday, the Carroll Education Coalition delivered binders of testimony collected from the community showing how CCPS is underfunded to each Commissioner, Board of Education member, and Dr. McCabe.

Our schools have funding challenges unrelated to Blueprint, but Blueprint has amplified those challenges. Watch Lisa M speak at the April BOE meeting respectfully asking the BOE and CCPS staff to work together with the Commissioners and the community to develop a long term plan for how the County will meet the needs of CCPS. If the waiver is granted by the AIB, let’s make good use of the time to outline our future vision we have for our school system for when Blueprint IS implemented.

Charter School Application Process Update at the April BOE Meeting

CEC’s mission is strictly surrounding ensuring CCPS has the funding and staffing to carry out their mission of educating our children. We are posting this information that was shared at the April BOE meeting because we have received multiple questions regarding the financial implications of a charter school. The CEC is posting facts here, as presented at the BOE meeting, to inform the public and makes no statement in support of or against the charter school application.


A section on the April BOE meeting was dedicated to discussing the legal requirements and application process for charter schools in Maryland beginning at 1:49:20 in the recording.

Letter to the Editor on Sunday, April 6, 2025

Carroll County Times

Challenge #1 – Operating Budget

-BOE requested $13M from the county to address the deficit in the overall funding needed to run the school system.

-On March 25, the Commissioners approved a preliminary budget motion to fund the $13M request.

-If the $13M funding is not approved in the final FY26 County budget, the BOE will need to make further reductions to balance CCPS’s budget.

Community Action Items:

-Contact the Commissioners to support fully funding the $13M for CCPS

-Attend or register to speak at the County Budget hearing on May 6

-Consider submitting testimony to the Carroll Education Coalition on why CCPS needs additional funding to meet the expectations of the community. Binders of the testimony will be delivered to each Commissioner, BOE member, and Dr. McCabe.

Challenge #2 – Blueprint Fiscal Compliance

-Messages from the community have been heard at the state level.

-CCPS has begun working closely with the AIB, including AIB consultants, to review CCPS’s data and compliance and make recommendations.

-Results of consultant work are expected in January 2026 and CCPS will adjust their implementation plan based on that feedback.

-On April 1, CCPS applied for a waiver from the AIB for additional time to achieve Blueprint fiscal compliance beyond the state’s policy of two years.

--Expect the AIB to vote on the CCPS waiver on April 17, 2025.

--If granted, a waiver would mean that CCPS still has to meet Blueprint fiscal compliance, but would allow CCPS to phase in the plan in a less impactful manner.

-CCPS will pause the school level changes, but starting in July 2025, CCPS will make the changes to the administrative and supervisory positions in the implementation plan.

Community Action Items:

-Before their April 17th meeting, email the AIB members in support of the waiver (see Call to Action guidance put out by the Carroll Education Coalition)

Call to Action -- Write to the AIB

Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB) Contacts:

Ms. Rachel Hise, Executive Director
rachel.hise@maryland.gov

Mr. Isiah (Ike) Leggett, Chair
Isiah.Leggett@maryland.gov

Dr. William (Brit) Kirwan, Vice Chair
William.Kirwan@maryland.gov

Ms. Rachel Amstutz, Policy Director
rachelv.amstutz@maryland.gov

Dr. Mara Doss, AIB Board Member
Mara.Doss@maryland.gov

Dr. Jennifer Lynch, AIB Board Member
Jennifer.Lynch@maryland.gov

Mr. Joseph Manko, AIB Board Member
Joseph.Manko@maryland.gov

Mr. Justin Robinson, AIB Board Member
Justin.Robinson@maryland.gov

Dr. Laura Stapleton, AIB Board Member
Laura.Stapleton2@maryland.gov

Example message template – ***please customize***

Subject: Please grant waiver for Carroll County Public Schools

Dear AIB Member,

My name is [your name] and I am a [parent/educator/employee/community advocate/student]
from [town] in Carroll County. I urge the AIB to grant Carroll County Public Schools’ waiver
request for more time to implement the Blueprint.

[Be sure to share how, without a waiver for more time to phase in the Blueprint implementation
plan, the changes will affect your students and school personally, e.g. your child may lose
access to Advanced Placement or elective classes, your child may not get the resources to
meet their individual learning needs, your child’s classroom may be overcrowded/unsafe, your
local high school library will not have a media specialist, etc]

[Consider including a sentence indicating that you are also advocating for increased funding for
Carroll County Public Schools at the local level. This shows a good faith effort -- that we are
encouraging the County to solve the problem together with the State.]

Thank you for your attention, and for your consideration of this urgent matter.

Best regards,
[Your Name]
[Your Contact Information]

Email them TODAY:

District 1: Joe Vigliotti - jvigliotti@carrollcountymd.gov
District 2: Ken Kiler - kkiler@carrollcountymd.gov
District 3: Tom Gordon - tgordon@carrollcountymd.gov
District 4: Mike Guerin - mguerin@carrollcountymd.gov
District 5: Ed Rothstein - erothstein@carrollcountymd.gov
Phone: 410-386-2043

Carroll County Public Schools (CCPS) Budget and Staffing Crisis: An Explanation

CCPS faces two separate challenges that have combined to bring us to this crisis point:

(1) Carroll County’s underinvestment in its public schools has resulted in budget and staffing levels that are
so lean, CCPS has very little wiggle room to respond to a changing environment.

(2) The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, enacted to improve education and focus support on populations that need help, requires
changes that CCPS is not able to meet without dramatically reducing and redistributing the County’s teachers.

Just as CCPS’ crisis stems from two causes, its solution needs to come from two sources:

1) The Carroll County Commissioners should be practical about the reality on the ground, providing more funding to plug the holes
left by years of underinvestment, and to give CCPS a cushion to move around its resources to meet Blueprint requirements.

2) The State of Maryland should provide flexibility, re-focusing its efforts on ensuring that school systems can meet the worthwhile
goals of Blueprint instead of enforcing implementation frameworks that have in some ways missed the mark.

If no additional help is given, the Board of Education will face terrible choices – potentially:

- eliminating Outdoor School
- cutting 95 teacher/staff positions and forcing another 90 to be moved from their current schools
- failing to honor employee and bus driver contracts
- reducing funding for laptops and instructional materials
- Some schools will see class sizes of 40+ students.
- Some schools will lose reading specialists, math resource specialists, and special educators.
- All schools will lose library staff.
- All high schools will lose athletic directors.
- High schools will see fewer courses offered, including AP classes, which will make CCPS graduates less prepared to compete with peers from elsewhere as they apply to colleges and prepare for careers.
- In future years, we could see high school athletics and
extracurriculars disappear completely

Carroll Education Coalition to have Info Table at Sykesville's Cocoa Crawl on Saturday, 2/22

Carroll Education Coalition will have a table at Saturday's Cocoa Crawl in downtown Sykesville. Come stop by our table on Saturday, February 22nd from noon to 4pm and pick up your button! Wearing your button around town shows you support investing in CCPS!

2/21/2025 -- Blueprint Legislation Update

📢 BLUEPRINT LEGISLATION UPDATE: On Wednesday, February 19, 2025, one of our team members, Julie Walsh, testified during a joint hearing before four Annapolis legislative committees. The committees were hearing Senate Bill 429 / House Bill 504, the Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act, which was introduced on behalf of Governor Wes Moore.

SB 429/HB 504 is a long, complicated piece of legislation that would make changes to the 2021-passed Blueprint for Maryland's Future. As the bill's chief impact would be to lower the "foundation amount" of funding for Maryland's students, the Carroll Education Coalition spoke against it. In her testimony (which can be viewed in this clip from the hearing), Julie referenced the budget and staffing crisis in CCPS, saying:

"We applaud this bill's focus on retaining and recruiting teachers, but it feels like a hollow promise in our community, where we expect to lay teachers off.

Our coalition wants to see plenty of attention and resources focused on the students whose needs are greatest. But we question how students are served by an implementation that will result in schools losing the professionals who focus on those who need the most help: reading specialists, math resource specialists, and special educators."

She asked legislators to oppose the bill's proposed reduction in the target per pupil foundation amount, and to give school systems flexibility in meeting Blueprint requirements.

Below you will find a link to the written testimony and a video of the oral testimony on behalf of the Carroll Education Coalition.

2/18/2025 -- Carroll County Board of Education Requests $57m from Commissioners

The Carroll Education Coalition wishes to extend 57 million thank yous to Carroll County Board of Education members Mrs. Zihmer, Dr. Dorsey, Mrs. Battaglia, and Ms. Kang for their request to the County Commissioners for additional funding to support our schools. We understand that this is only the first step in making increased funding a reality, but we are grateful to be taking it.

To quickly explain, this evening the BOE voted to approve two funding requests, totaling $57 million, from the County Commissioners. The first request of $13 million would cover most of the projected deficit in the FY26 Operating Budget. The second request of $44 million could allow CCPS enough funding to avoid the drastic teacher and staff reductions that had been discussed related to Blueprint fiscal compliance.

We hope you'll join us in thanking these Board members for their votes, and we look forward to working with you to encourage the Carroll County Commissioners to take the next step in making sure CCPS is adequately funded. We wholeheartedly believe that our schools and our students are worth investing in.

Board of Education emails:
tarabattaglia@carrollk12.org, stephenwhisler@carrollk12.org, patriciadorsey@carrollk12.org, gregmalveaux@carrollk12.org, kristenzihmer@carrollk12.org, sturep@carrollk12.org, CynthiaMcCabe@carrollk12.org

Carroll Education Coalition is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Carroll County Public Schools, the Superintendent, or any Carroll County Public School or office.