County Councilmember Craig Rice will begin a series of public forums on seeking public input and providing information on the programs and budgets of the County’s public school system and its community college. The first installment of this series will take place next Wednesday, Feb. 15 at Northwest High School in Germantown, at 6:30 pm

   Rice, the Montgomery County Council Education Committee Chair, was be joined by Montgomery College President DeRionne Pollard, MCPS Superintendent to be Jack R. Smith.

   “These forums will provide an opportunity for residents to have their questions answered about the education budgets at both the State and County level from kindergarten to higher education,” said Councilmember Rice. “We will talk about how budget decisions are made and will work to explain the circumstances concerning the new budget we are addressing for the fiscal year that begins on July 1. We also will discuss the opportunities residents will have to influence budget decisions. And in this early stage of the budget process, we want to hear from residents about their concerns, their priorities and how they fit with the amount of funding available.”

   This is the first of five public forums which will continue at Montgomery Blair High School on March 8; Montgomery College’s Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus on March 15; Walter Johnson High School on March 22; and Richard Montgomery High School on March 29.

   The forums will address how budget priorities are established by the Board of Education, the County Executive and the County Council—all of whom work toward crafting the MCPS and Montgomery College annual operating budgets. At the forums, subjects will include what the school system and college are doing to prepare for Fiscal Year 2018.

   The forums talk about opportunities residents will have to influence decisions that will be made as the County works to adopt the FY18 budget. The County Council in May will adopt the budget that will go into effect on July 1.

Caption: Craig Rice speaks at last year's Education Budget Forum held on the Germantown campus of Montgomery College. This year's forum will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at Northwest High School. 

Photo by Germantown Pulse.