Montgomery County Public Schools is rejecting a county oversight report that accused the district of funding practices that privilege white students and harm Black and Latino children, calling the allegations "unacceptable and irresponsible" in a letter to the County Council.

The letter, signed by MCPS Chief of Staff Essie McGuire and Chief Financial Officer Ivon Alfonso-Windsor, was sent to Council President Natali Fani-Gonzalez on Friday and shared publicly on Sunday. It responds to a 15-finding report released Tuesday, July 14, by the county's Office of Legislative Oversight.

"It is unacceptable and irresponsible to accuse a public agency of racist resource allocation without substantial evidence, which this report does not provide," the letter states.

OLO Director Christopher Cihlar offered a pointed counter: MCPS had the report for more than two months before its July 14 publication but submitted no comments until after it was released publicly.

"OLO looks forward to a continued discussion of this important issue," Cihlar said in a statement to Montgomery Perspective reporter Adam Pagnucco.

What the OLO report found

OLO Report 2026-9, authored by analysts Elaine Bonner-Tompkins and Janmarie Peña, examined how MCPS distributes money across student service groups. The central finding: in the current fiscal year 2026, the district budgeted nearly $30,000 per student for special education, compared to $4,000 per student for emergent multilingual learner programs and $1,400 per student for compensatory education, which targets students affected by poverty.

Black and Latino students make up most of the students served by EML and compensatory education programs, according to the report. White students with service needs are primarily served in special education and gifted and talented programs. The report concluded that this spending gap "disproportionately harm[s] Latinx and Black students."

MCPS enrolls 159,181 students across 211 schools. Students eligible for free and reduced-price meals account for 43 percent of enrollment; emergent multilingual learners, 21 percent; gifted and talented, 19 percent; students with disabilities, 14 percent.

How MCPS responded

The district's rebuttal challenged the report's methodology and legal reasoning. MCPS argued the comparison between special education and other programs "represents a fundamental misunderstanding of special education," citing the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which requires the district to fund all mandated services for students with disabilities regardless of cost.

The letter also argued that OLO's recommendations would require race-based resource allocation in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

MCPS pointed to equity initiatives it has launched, including new staffing standards developed in fiscal year 2026. The first update in more than 20 years, the standards create a tiered system providing additional staff to high-poverty schools. The district also cited its "Equity Add-On" initiative, which provides supplemental per-pupil funding tied to FARMS eligibility, EML status, and special education needs.

National Board Certified teachers who work at state-designated "low-performing" schools receive a $10,000 certification stipend plus an additional $7,000 for working at those campuses, according to the letter.

The County Council originally commissioned the study to ensure "every dollar is put to the best use to serve the greatest needs in our schools." No hearing date has been announced for the council to take up the report or MCPS's response.