Executive Summary

Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS) shows strong overall Blueprint implementation, with one pillar rated Exceeds and four rated Meets. The AIB approved all seven 2024 plan components on November 21, 2024, releasing FY25 funds, and approved the FY26 release of funds in December 2025 after the 2025 Career Ladder, MOU, Math Plan, and student progress components were accepted.^{[1] [2]} Pillar 2 (High Quality & Diverse Teachers and Leaders) is the district's standout: National Board Certification achievement grew from 2 in 2021-2022 to 60 in 2025-2026, teacher retention reached 75.2% against a 75.1% AIB target, and teacher vacancies fell from 77 in 2023-2024 to 27.8 in 2025-2026.^[1]

Student outcome data show meaningful gains alongside areas of concern. Grades 3-8 ELA proficiency rose from 53.0% to 62.4% and Grade 3 ELA from 54.9% to 65.2% between 2021-22 and 2025-26, while Grades 3-8 math proficiency (40.5%) edged down from 41.4% the prior year.^[1] Chronic absenteeism fell from 25.8% to 16.6% across all schools and from 38.5% to 20.5% in community schools between 2021-2022 and 2024-2025, though community school gains stalled in the most recent year.^[1] In early childhood, Pre-K enrollment grew from 1,013 in 2022-2023 to 1,374 in 2025-2026, with over 95% of Tier I four-year-olds enrolled.^[1]

Key challenges remain. Private Pre-K participation is limited (32 three-year-olds and 50 four-year-olds in 2025-2026), the minimum teacher salary of $57,659 sits below the $60,000 required by July 1, 2026, and only 1 of 9 funding programs was budgeted to meet minimum school funding in FY26.^[1] Proficiency gaps for multilingual learners and students with disabilities have also widened since 2021-22, making targeted supports a district-wide priority.