March 11, 2026, Staff & Community Message: Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Fiscal Compliance—BCPS Submits Waiver Application
Dear Team BCPS–
Baltimore County Public Schools requested a waiver to extend to Fiscal Year 2028 full compliance with the Minimum School Funding (MSF) requirements outlined in the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. The waiver request was submitted to the Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB) on February 27, 2026.
Under the Blueprint, local school systems must report how funds are allocated to schools at the individual student level. BCPS remains committed to distributing resources equitably based on student needs. However, schools with smaller proportions of student service groups—economically disadvantaged students, students receiving special education services, and multilingual learners—would receive significantly less funding under the minimum school funding formula.
The legislation has set school funding levels in specific categories and requires that a minimum percentage of the allocated funding follows students throughout their time in the school system. The targeted funding program areas include—
- Foundation – the base per student funding amount in the law
- Comparable Wage Index – funding adjustment designed to account for regional differences in cost of living
- Compensatory Education – per student funding for student who are identified as eligible for Free and Reduced Meals
- Students with Disabilities
- Multilingual Learners
- College and Career Readiness – students who have met the state’s College and Career Readiness standards
- Transitional Supplemental Instruction - specific funding designed to provide intensive, evidence-based academic support to "struggling learners" in the early grades K-3
- Prekindergarten
- Concentration of Poverty (Community Schools) – students in schools with a higher concentration of families living in poverty
MSF aims to help school systems align expenditures to the funding areas, at the individual student-level. BCPS is working diligently to shift current budgeting and accounting practices and processes to align with state requirements in a manner that will not negatively impact other schools and disrupt student achievement. The waiver allows for additional time while we work together with AIB and the Maryland State Department of Education to evaluate the impact of the requirements on individual school communities. Several school systems have submitted waiver requests and received approval.
BCPS values stakeholder feedback regarding its work to meet the requirements of the Blueprint. Please complete this short survey to share your thoughts on the requirement and waiver request.
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Resources
Watch the November 2025 presentation
Watch the March 2026 presentation
View the November 2025 PPT
View the March 2026 Superintendent’s Report
MSDE- Blueprint for Maryland’s Future
MSDE- Blueprint Funding: Formula and Accountability
BCPS- Blueprint for Maryland’s Future