County Council signals support for funding synthetic turf fields in MCPS

April 15, 2026 1:25 p.m.

Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Thomas Taylor and members of the county school board are seen during County Executive Marc Elrich's press conference about his proposed capital improvements program for fiscal years 2027 through 2032. Credit: Montgomery County, MD Flickr

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Funding for artificial turf fields and the replacement of a school bus depot will remain — at least for now — in the six-year capital spending plan for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), the County Council decided Tuesday.

The council’s votes on synthetic turf fields and the school bus depot were part of its ongoing review of County Executive Marc Elrich’s proposed $6.6 billion capital improvements plan (CIP) for fiscal years 2027 through 2032. Fiscal year 2027 begins July 1.

The council may revisit both funding categories during its reconciliation process next month, when money for capital projects will need to be cut unless the council agrees to increase its previously approved annual borrowing limit for the next six years.

“We’re not saying it’s a given – it’s gonna compete with everything else,” council President Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6) said after the vote on synthetic turf fields at the council office building Tuesday afternoon.

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Of the CIP’s $6.6 billion in spending, about $2.14 billion would go to MCPS under Elrich’s proposal. The CIP also funds the maintenance of county government facilities, transportation infrastructure and park lands, among other categories.

That amount is $380 million more than the district’s amended CIP for fiscal years 2025-2030, but $652 million less than the school board’s recommendation for fiscal years 2027 through 2032, according to a council staff report.

MCPS Superintendent Thomas Taylor has said the district’s actual six-year capital needs are closer to $5 billion.

During Tuesday’s council meeting, Taylor acknowledged that all of the district’s recommended capital improvements are not attainable at this time.

Synthetic turf fields

The school district’s approved CIP for fiscal years 2027 through 2032 included $72.9 million for outdoor play space and athletic infrastructure, including artificial turf fields.

Elrich’s recommended CIP reduced that amount by $34.1 million — leaving enough money to fund natural grass fields instead of the proposed synthetic turf fields.

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The council’s Education and Culture Committee, which reviewed the MCPS capital spending plan on March 19, recommended putting the $34.1 million back into the CIP — but not for turf fields.

Instead, the committee proposed reallocating the $34.1 million to heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) work, along with other “urgent” systemic repairs. Taylor has said the district has a $740 million backlog in HVAC projects.

“You can’t argue with moving dollars into making sure our students can walk into buildings and be able to safely breathe the air there,” Councilmember Kristin Mink (D-Dist. 5) said during Tuesday’s meeting.

Mink is a member of the Education and Culture Committee along with councilmembers Will Jawando and Shebra Evans (both D-At-large). The committee voted 2-1 on March 19 to reallocate the funding for synthetic turf fields to systemic repairs, with Evans — a former member of the county school board — casting the opposing vote.

“I am and have been a strong supporter of turf fields,” Evans said Tuesday. “But never have I wanted to, in this role, usurp the board’s authority.”

Council staff said Tuesday it is not clear whether the council has the authority to move money in the manner proposed by the Education and Culture Committee. State law gives local boards of education jurisdiction over education policy, including many budgetary decisions.

Regardless of whether the council has the authority to do so, Fani-González said Tuesday she would not support taking money away from athletic fields.

“Obviously, I want [every school] that we have in the county to have effective HVAC systems — nobody’s saying otherwise,” she said. “I’m just saying that you don’t take from one pot to put in the other when both of them are in need.”

Council Vice President Marilyn Balcombe (D-Dist. 2) said Tuesday she would not support adding the money back into the CIP because it will only make the reconciliation process more difficult.

“We know that we’re going to have to cut without this discussion,” Balcombe said. “If we add back $34 million, we have to cut even further.”

The council voted 6-5 to restore funding for artificial turf fields without reallocating the money to HVAC projects. In favor were Fani-González, Evans and councilmembers Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1), Sidney Katz (D-Dist. 3), Dawn Luedtke (D-Dist. 7) and Laurie-Anne Sayles (D-At-large).

Jawando, Mink, Balcombe and councilmembers Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) and Evan Glass (D-At-large) were opposed.

School bus depot

The school district’s approved CIP for fiscal years 2027 through 2032 also included $70 million for the replacement of its school bus depot in Shady Grove. The district’s CIP calls for the funding to begin in fiscal year 2027.

The council’s Education and Culture committee on March 19 supported delaying the project by three years, with funding to begin in fiscal year 2030, as an affordability measure.

Some councilmembers on Tuesday said they were concerned that there had not been enough public engagement about the project before the district included it in its CIP.

Taylor told the council that the replacement school bus depot was “one of the many projects” subject to community input during the district’s capital budget process last fall. The proposal would involve moving buses from the Shady Grove depot to a new maintenance facility on Rockville’s Gude Drive and other locations in the county.

Though the district has been discussing the Shady Grove facility with the county for years, Taylor said many people only became aware of its proposed replacement through the recent CIP proposal.

“Maybe that speaks to some of the issues with the process, but it’s not from a lack of us trying to elevate this as an issue,” Taylor said. “At the end of the day, we have to park the buses somewhere.”

Balcombe said she found out about the perceived lack of public engagement when constituents began tagging her in social media posts about the issue.

“There’s such a difference between it on a slide in a CIP hearing slideshow and reaching out to the actual neighborhoods that are being affected,” she said.

Friedson said he did not feel comfortable giving the project the council’s stamp of approval before more public engagement has occurred. He proposed removing the project from the CIP for fiscal years 2027 through 2032.

“If we start at the point where the council is agreeing to this in the beginning, then it leaves the question to the public of what exactly the public outreach is really about, except to explain how this is going to work,” Friedson said.

Jawando said he agreed about the need for more public engagement, but he did not support removing the project from the CIP entirely.

“I think this strikes both balances in that it helps us with affordability in the early years of the CIP but also keeps the project ongoing and will help force … those important conversations,” Jawando said.

The council voted 7-4 to support the committee’s recommendation to keep the replacement bus depot in the CIP, with funding to begin in fiscal year 2030. Jawando, Mink, Evans, Fani-González, Luedtke, Sayles and Stewart were in favor.

Friedson, Glass, Katz and Balcombe were opposed.

The council must take final action on both the county operating budget and capital spending plan for fiscal year 2027 by June 1.

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine