Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich’s $6.6 billion proposed six-year Capital Improvement Program would give more to Montgomery County Public Schools than they have ever received.

But, at a series of hearings this week, parents said it’s not enough. Other school supporters said the plan shortsightedly takes some campuses off the renovations priority list.

More than 100 people testified at four public hearings on Elrich’s capital budget Monday and Tuesday. The majority used their three minutes at the microphone to tell the County Council the plan would shortchange schools or parks.

Elrich’s proposal would allocate $2.1 billion for school construction and renovation. That doesn’t cover all of the county schools’ requests but adds $380 million to what the district received in the last capital plan, which the council approved two years ago.

The entire capital budget, including all county departments, is 9.6% higher than the previous one, passed in 2024.

But many parents see gaping holes.

“There have been many promises made — that have been broken — to fund a long-overdue renewal for these schools,” Angie Kronenberg, a parent and organizer with Save Our Silver Spring Schools, said at the Tuesday afternoon hearing.

Elrich has defended his proposal as the best he can do, given a grim fiscal outlook. When he unveiled this plan in January, he described it as a realistic response to a “pretty difficult situation.”

The county executive has frequently clashed over the capital budget with the County Council, which gets final say over its contours and total spending.

Irina Norrell, the mother of a third grader districted to attend Magruder High School when she is older, said too little attention has been paid to schools that badly need renovations.

Norrell said she became particularly upset after Magruder’s ceiling collapsed during a school play last year and she learned that problems with the ceiling had surfaced years before.

“I’ve heard over and over that Magruder has been passed over multiple times because, historically, this community was not vocal enough, not organized enough, did not show up at hearings or made our displeasure heard at the ballot box,” she told the council Tuesday.

“You did not create the situation, but you can be the ones to start fixing it.”

A plan for parks

Elrich’s proposal for the parks department also came under fire. It recommends combined parks and planning capital funding at $280.7 million, a 10.6% decrease from the previously approved budget.

Trish Heffelfinger, president of the Montgomery Parks Foundation, criticized Elrich for failing to fund any of the capital increases requested by the planning board, including an Action Sports Park at Wheaton Regional Park.

“We are in uncertain times. People are worried. They feel helpless. They need safe, open spaces,” Heffelfinger said.

In 2025, Montgomery Parks Director Miti Figueredo asked the council to increase funding for the parks department, accusing Elrich of underfunding the department’s operating budget, which is separate from the capital budget.

She warned the department might have to lay off dozens of employees and cut programs. Councilmembers, including then-Council President Kate Stewart, said Elrich put the council in the difficult position of finding more money for parks.

At the time, Elrich said Figueredo was “overblowing” the shortfall. Later, he submitted an amendment to increase the parks department’s budget by approximately $1 million to correct what he called an “inadvertent” administrative error.

Elrich is expected to release his operating budget next month. But parks supporters worry it will reflect an undervaluing of the park system that they see in the county executive’s capital plan.

“I know budgets are tight,” said Tom Newton, a parks volunteer, “but at just $5,000 per mile, trails are the most cost-effective way to improve park access and connect neighborhoods.”

The council will vote on the capital budget in the coming weeks.