For Immediate Release: Tuesday, February 25, 2025
The Education and Culture (EC) Committee will meet on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 9:30 a.m. to review a $17 million supplemental appropriation for special education at Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). In addition, the committee will receive an update on school system interventions for highly impacted groups.
The members of the EC Committee include Chair and Council Vice President Will Jawando and Councilmembers Gabe Albornoz and Kristin Mink.
The Montgomery County Council will hold a public hearing on the Planning Board’s Draft of the Bethesda Downtown Plan Minor Master Plan Amendment at 7 p.m. The public hearing will take place at the Bethesda Regional Services Center, East-West Conferences Rooms, 4805 Edgemoor Lane, Bethesda, Maryland 20814.
More detail on each agenda item is provided below.
Review: The EC Committee will review a $17 million supplemental appropriation for special education at MCPS. The appropriation is needed to offset a current shortage in funding for position salaries and costs associated with providing one-on-one critical staff support and other services to special education students. The funding deficit is due to the placement of more experienced staff with higher salaries into positions which had been planned to be filled by new staff. In addition, expenditures are higher due to costs associated with non-public placements, critical staffing needs and contractual services.
School System Interventions for Highly Impacted Groups
Update: The EC Committee will receive an update on school system interventions for highly impacted groups in MCPS, which are designed to improve outcomes for students receiving special education services, emergent multilingual learners and students qualifying for Free and Reduced-price Meals System services. Interventions provide professional learning tailored to the unique needs of these student groups and includes efforts to equip educators with the tools and strategies necessary for effective instruction. The update will include an overview of current academic performance data related to these interventions.
The Committee meeting schedule may change from time to time. View the current Council and Committee agendas, Council staff reports and additional information on items scheduled for Council review on the Council website.
Council and committee meetings are streamed live on the Council’s web page via YouTube and on Facebook Live and can be watched on County Cable Montgomery on Xfinity/RCN 6 HD 996/1056, Fios 30, and on the CCM live stream.
Release ID: 25-058