Frederick County Public Schools To Hold Virtual Budget Forum This Week

Residents will have a chance to present their priorities for fiscal year 2025.Frederick, Md (KM) It’s the first step in the process of drafting a fiscal year 2025 budget for Frederick County Public Schools. That’s how Heather Clabaugh, the Director of Budget for the School System, describes a virtual budget forum taking place this week. “There is a Google Meet that is available on our website. And it’s from 6:00 to 7:00 PM on Wednesday, the  29th {of November},” she says.Clabaugh says it’s an opportunity for citizens to discuss their budget priorities for the next fiscal year for the local school system. “We do a brief presentation just to explain how the budget is formulated. And then we open it up to the forum. .  We give folks three minutes to let us know what their concerns are for the upcoming budget,” she says.Superintendent Doctor Cheryl Dyson uses this feedback to develop her fiscal year 2025 operating budget which will released on Monday, January 8th, 2024.Clabaugh says the School System has been doing virtual budget forums since the pandemic, and finds that more people participate as opposed to in-person meetings. “Typically, for this meeting with the Superintendent, we’ve only gotten about a dozen folks to attend. And last year  we had over 50 attendees in the virtual setting,” she says.”And it’s really the opportunity to talk directly to the Superintendent because she is there, and she’s working on formulating her Superintendent’s recommended budget which is released after the winter break,” Clabaugh continues.Anyone who wants to participate in the virtual forum can go on line to https://meet.google.com/mom-qmsb-rxb on the night of the forum.Frederick County Public Schools has also posted its budget calendar. It’s available at www.fcps.org/budget.By Kevin McManus