| Frederick County Public Schools | |
| Streetaddress: | 191 South East Street |
| Zipcode: | 21701 |
| Country: | USA |
| Superintendent: | Cheryl Dyson |
| Staff: | 5,763 (2021-22) |
| Teachers: | 2,889 (2021-22) |
| Students: | 45,220 (2021-22) |
| Ratio: | 15.65 (2021-22) |
| Schools: | 69 |
Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS) is a public school system serving the residents of Frederick County, Maryland. The system includes several schools to serve the educational needs of the youth in Frederick and the surrounding areas of Frederick County.
Frederick County Public Schools District staff members, spread throughout the district's sixty-nine schools and central office, totaled a number of 5,763 in the 2021–2022 school year. Out of the 5,763 staff members, 2,889 were teachers and 2,874 were classified as other staff members. There were 153 school guidance counselors throughout the district. There were 758 instructional aides in the district to assist in the academic setting. In the district administration side of staffing, there were 181 district administrators and 115 district administrative support working in the system in an administrative capacity. In the school administrative side, there were 195 school administrators working in the district which includes principals and assistant principals. 302 members of staff were classified as school administrative support.
| Karen Yoho | President | December 2022-December 2026 | |
| Rae Gallagher | Vice President | December 2022-December 2026 | |
| Nancy Allen | Member | December 2022-December 2026 | |
| David Bass | Member | December 2020-December 2024 | |
| Jason "Mr. J" Johnson | Member | December 2020-December 2024 | |
| Susan "Sue" Johnson | Member | December 2020-December 2024 | |
| Dean Rose | Member | December 2022-December 2026 | |
| Brooke Lieberman | Student Member | July 2023-June 2024 |
Per the 2022 to 2023 approved operating budget, Frederick County Public Schools total budget is $822,836,251. The funds are provided by the Frederick County, in the amount of $365.3 million; the State of Maryland in the amount of $365.7 million; the Federal Government in the amount of $71.2 million; plus addition funds (including unspent prior year funds) in the amount of $20.6 million.
The county had expenditures or costs of $59,215,000 or $4,545 per student on average for the 2013-14 FY. Expenditure spending is spread around to Current Expenditures, Total Capital Outlay, Total Non- El-Sec Education, and to Interest on Debt owed by the county. Current expenditures cost in total $521,143,000 and of those costs most are spent on students and staff which are marked as Instructional Expenditures and totaled $327,061,000 or about 63% of the Current Expenditure total. Student and Staff support made up $58,314,000 while Administration costs made up $48,858,000 of the Current Expenditure budget. Food Services/Operations cost $86,910,000 and is a part of the Current Expenditures budget. Total Capital Outlay cost $51,559,000. From that amount, $45,421,000 was used in construction cost such as for building new schools. Total Non-El-Sec education and others cost $1,053,000. Interest on debt owed by the school district cost $71,000 in the 3093-11 FY.
The demographics of Frederick County Public Schools student population as of the 2016–2017 school year were 41,317 students in the entire district spread throughout grades PreK – 12. On a racial breakdown of the student population, out of 41,317 students there were 25,552 Caucasian students. 2,203 Asian students in the district, 4,914 African American students, 6,383 Latino students, 207 Alaskan Native/American Indian/Pacific Islanders, and 2,038 students of two or more races in the district. On a breakdown by gender, 21,199 out of 41,317 students were male and 20,118 students were female in the district. Attendance rates in the district also varied but were mostly high with 95.6% average of elementary students, 95.4% average of middle school students, and 94.2% average of high school students attending classes on a regular basis.[1] The county has an overall graduation rate of 92% of all its students making it through to graduation and a dropout rate of 4.7%.
Initial enrollment for the 2017- 2018 school year was up by 826 students over the prior year to 42,204 students. Eleven thousand students in the FCPS were eligible for free or reduced-price meals or about 27% of the student population. About 4,910 students were receiving Special Education support and services. The number of students that do not speak English as a primary language in the school district numbered as 2,388 students. Student demographics for FCPS in the 2017- 2018 school year show that the county is composed of a new racial breakdown of White 26,082 students, 6,541 Hispanic/Latino students, 5,022 African American students, 2,236 Asian students, American Indian/Alaskan Natives and Pacific Islanders made up 253 students. A little over two thousand students were considered of two or more races. This is a slight shift in the new numbers from previous years.[2]
Seven out of the ten of Frederick County high schools have been recognized by the U.S. News & World Report High School Rankings and have been awarded silver medals. The highest-ranked school in the county is Urbana High School in Ijamsville. Urbana HS is ranked 15th in the state of Maryland and 550 in National rankings, with a 98% graduation rate and 54.3 College readiness level, and 68% of students participate in Advanced Placement classes. Urbana HS is 50% Male and 50% female and a minority enrollment rate of 32%. The second highest ranked high school in the county was Middletown High School in Middletown, which is ranked 21st in the state and 744th in the nation. Middletown has a college readiness level of 49.2 and 64% of students participate in AP programs.[3]
Frederick County also has multiple Blue-Ribbon schools. Kemptown Elementary School in Monrovia was awarded the National Blue-Ribbon Award in 2015 in the category of Exemplary High Performing Schools. Centerville Elementary School in Frederick was awarded the National Blue-Ribbon award in 2017 also in the category of Exemplary High Performing Schools.[4] Centerville has over 1,000 students and PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) testing proficiency scores of 82.4% in math and 77% in language arts.[5] The state of Maryland also has awarded Frederick county schools in sustainability initiatives. Four Frederick County public schools are certified as Maryland Green Schools as administered by the Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education. Frederick County Public Schools was also the 1st Maryland school district to adapt a goal to increase tree canopy on all properties from 12% to 20% over the next thirty years.[6]
On Wednesday, December 1, 2021 The Department Of Justice released a document detailing the seclusion tactics utilized by teachers and staff in FCPS. These seclusion techniques involved placing a student in a room for twenty-nine minutes at a time, taking them out then placing them right back in seclusion for another twenty-nine minutes.[7] This could be repeated twelve times or more. Throughout the two and a half years FCPS was investigated, thousands of seclusion incidents were recorded. 99% of the students affected were classified as having disabilities.[8]
After the release of the DOJ document, many parents spoke out about the mistreatment of their children. The superintendent at the time, Dr. Terry Alban, was placed on administrative leave, and after public pressure, retired.[9] Eventually, FCPS and the DOJ reached a settlement. This settlement included hiring behavioral analysts and providing trauma therapy to students affected. The total cost is predicted to exceed four million dollars.[10]
On July 1, 2022, a new law preventing seclusion in schools took effect in the State of Maryland.[11] This law, springing up in the aftermath of this investigation, makes it completely illegal to seclude students in public schools.[12] While seclusion will still be legal in private schools, It will be subject to a great deal of scrutiny.