MCPS Per-Pupil Expenditure by Each High School (2020-2022)

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In: Local Government, MCPS, MCPS Enrollment, School Funding

Background and Source Data

The state of Maryland reports on per-pupil expenditures Maryland reports on per-pupil expenditures and defines them as follows:

“School-level per-pupil expenditures are local education agency (LEA) operating expenditures directly attributed to schools or allocated to schools based on certain criteria and reported as a per-pupil or per-student amount. The school-level per-pupil data can vary across LEAs and within LEAs due to many factors, including the number of students enrolled in the school, specific school-based programs, and the experience level of staff at the school.”

MCPS high schools were analyzed for per-pupil expenditures for the school years:

  • 2019-2020 (designated 2020)
  • 2020-2021 (designated 2021)
  • 2021-2022 (designated 2022)

These are the three most recent years with data available on the MSDE website.

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Results and Conclusions

Table 1 shows a comprehensive comparison of schools for 2020, 2021, and 2022. The state/local and the federal contributions vary between schools and between years. The total amount ranged from a low of $12,680 for Bethesda-Chevy Chase High in 2020 to a high of $18,914 for Rockville High in 2021. There is generally about a $5000 difference between the highest and lowest expenditures for individual schools each year (~$13K to ~18K).

Table 1. MCPS per-pupil expenditures by high school (alphabetical) for 2020, 2021, and 2022

Table 2 shows 2020 per-pupil expenditures from highest to lowest amounts.  The three schools with the highest funds were Seneca Valley ($18,059), Rockville ($17,640), and Watkins Mill ($17,561).

The three schools with the lowest funds were Bethesda-Chevy Chase ($12,680), Walter Johnson ($13,269), and Richard Montgomery ($13,493).

Table 2. MCPS per-pupil expenditures by high school (high to low) for 2020

Table 3 shows 2021 per-pupil expenditures from highest to lowest amounts.  The three schools with the highest dollars were Rockville ($18,914), Seneca Valley ($18,663), and Watkins Mill ($17,918).

The three schools with the lowest dollars were Bethesda-Chevy Chase ($13,771), Walter Johnson ($14,036), and Northwest ($14,316).

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Table 3. MCPS per-pupil expenditures by high school (high to low) for 2021

Table 4 shows 2022 per-pupil expenditures from highest to lowest amounts.  The three schools with the highest money were Rockville ($18,585), Kennedy ($17,927), and Gaithersburg ($17,702).

The three schools with the lowest money were Walter Johnson ($13,691), Bethesda-Chevy Chase ($13,850), and Poolesville ($14,406).

Table 4. MCPS per-pupil expenditures by high school (high to low) for 2022

Table 5 shows the percent change in per-pupil expenditure for 2020 vs 2022. The three schools with the largest percent change increase were Sherwood (14%), Magruder (12%), and Gaithersburg (11%).

Seneca Valley was the only school that had a decrease (-7%).  The three schools with the smallest percent change increase were Watkins Mill (0%), Wheaton (2%), Poolesville (2%).

Table 5. MCPS per-pupil expenditure percent change by high school from 2020 to 2022

Per-pupil expenditures generally increased over time except for Seneca Valley. The expenditures vary between schools and over time.  For example, Poolesville had the 9th lowest funding in 2020 and the 3rd lowest funding in 2022.

There was some consistency. Rockville remained in the top 2 for funding each of the three years.  Walter Johnson and Bethesda-Chevy Chase remained in the bottom 2 for funding each of the three years.

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