Harford County Public Schools plans to request $53.88 million more from the county in its fiscal 2027 budget proposal, according to a presentation to the Board of Education on Monday.

The money would primarily go toward adding roughly 91 positions, most of them designated for prekindergarten through second grade and multilingual learners.

About $28.3 million would be allocated to increasing employee wages, as the district is required to have a $60,000 starting wage for all teachers through mandates in the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. The district is also requesting about $1.2 million for six full-time equivalent teaching positions for Swan Creek School’s new Early College program.

Included in the school system’s $8.5 million curriculum funding request is $500,000 for textbooks, which the district said it has run out of money for.

“We have very little in our operating budget for textbooks,” said Deborah Judd, assistant superintendent for business services.

For fiscal 2027, which begins July 1, Harford Schools is proposing a $724.9 million budget that includes money from the county, state and federal governments and other sources.

In the fiscal 2026 budget, Harford Schools received $347.6 million from the county, $26.2 million more than the previous year, though the school system’s original request was for $60 million more. The district had to cut more than 150 positions, end summer school sessions, reduce its salary package and take other cost-saving measures to bring its budget request to a level Cassilly would fund.

County Executive Bob Cassilly said he was displeased with this year’s school system request, stating in a news release that he is prepared to fund a $23 million increase in operating funds for next year established through a three-year budget plan.

Cassilly said he proposed regular budget meetings between county and school system staff and a three-year budget plan to “align school funding increases with the growth in county revenues.” He agreed to fund the first step in the plan last year, a $26 million increase in fiscal 2026. In fiscal 2027, he anticipated a $23 million increase, followed by $19 million in fiscal 2028.

“The only way to fund this outlandish request is with a tax increase, which I will not support, or eliminate entire county departments, which I will not do,” he said.

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