MCPS to ‘evaluate options’ after not receiving funding for newly leased warehouse 

Parents group argues 2025 decision was irresponsible, lacked transparency

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June 1, 2026 10:45 a.m.

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Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) will evaluate its options after the County Council didn’t approve funding in its budget to pay for a 10-year leasing contract for a warehouse that the district signed in October, MCPS said Thursday in a statement.  

“MCPS is extremely disappointed and frustrated that funds were ultimately not provided to fulfill this lease agreement,” MCPS spokesperson Liliana Lopez said in the statement. “The warehouse lease and the implications of removing funding were discussed in public in County Council budget work sessions. In light of these budget reductions, we will work with the property owner to evaluate our options.”  

The Parents’ Coalition  of Montgomery County, a local watchdog group that monitors MCPS, first publicized the issues with the lease funding. In October, the county school board approved a 10-year lease to start Nov. 1 and cost about $246,000 per month, with rent payments to commence July 1, 2026, the beginning of the 2027 fiscal year, according to school board documents. 

The coalition is calling out MCPS for the spending at a time when the district has recommended that the county school board cut more than 430 jobs to close a $36 million budget gap for the coming fiscal year. 

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“This is [an] incredible lack of planning. It was not a transparent process. It was not put out for public comment,” said Janis Zink Sartucci of the Parents’ Coalition on Thursday. “It absolutely is a great example of waste in the public school system, and it’s sad because professional staff are losing their positions because of this kind of waste with no oversight.” 

According to the district’s $2.78 billion capital improvements program (CIP) approved in December by the school board, MCPS requested a total of $13.1 million over the next six years to address the planning, design, supervision and construction of the new warehouse from the capital budget. According to the CIP, the funding requested for fiscal year 2027, about $10.6  million, was required for the interior construction. Taylor also requested more than $3.6 million in the district’s fiscal year operating budget to rent the building.  

However, facing county budget constraints, the County Council did not include funding for building renovations in the MCPS funding included in its CIP nor money for the rent.  

Earlier this month, the County Council approved a $1.85 billion capital improvements budget for the district, representing 67% of the school board’s $2.78 billion request. The council also approved an $3.72 billion MCPS operating budget, leaving a $36 million gap between the district’s proposed expenses and the amount of funding it will receive for the fiscal year beginning July 1. 

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During the council’s operating budget discussions in May, Taylor outlined potential position cuts if the council didn’t fully fund the district’s budget request.   

To address funding gaps, Councilmember Will Jawando (D-At-large) suggested during a May 15 council meeting that the council transfer $36 million from the district’s portion of the county’s $6.3 billion six-year capital improvements program to MCPS for operating expenses, which lessened the amount of the council’s initial proposed $73 million reduction in the district’s funding. The council voted 7-4 to shift the funding, leaving MCPS with a roughly $36 million budget gap.   

In the statement to Bethesda Today, Lopez said the “agreement for MCPS to lease a comprehensive warehouse facility was not a surprise event.”  

Lopez said in the statement that elected officials and local advocates “have requested for many years that MCPS identify an alternative location” to the currently MCPS owned warehouse in Rockville.  

The condition of the warehouse, Lopez said, is “one of the worst in the school system” as it was constructed from reclaimed materials from World War II and built when MCPS was half its current size. The lack of adequate space forced MCPS to use “several alternative locations for storage and distribution, reducing efficiency,” Lopez said.  

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Taylor presented information to the school board on the need for the new warehouse and requested funding in the capital and operating budgets, Lopez said.  

“Prior to entering into this arrangement, elected and non-elected stakeholders were aware of this pending lease opportunity, and the forthcoming need for funding,” Lopez said.  

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine