Posted on 02/17/26
| News Source: FOX45
Baltimore, MD - Feb. 17, 2026 - The four-year high school graduation rate in Baltimore County Public Schools has fallen to a 14-year low, despite record funding.
Now, one Baltimore County Board of Education member says graduation rates are down because BCPS has the wrong priorities.
Maggie Domanowski, four years ago, ran for Baltimore County Board of Education because she says the district was failing in its core mission.
“We're not preparing these students to be productive adults, and we have to get better at it,” Domanowski told Project Baltimore.
Four years later, as Domanowski seeks re-election, she believes she’s identified the main problem.
“The majority of the adults on the board in the school system make decisions that are in the best interest of adults,” Domanowski explained.
Which she says is hurting student outcomes. And recently released 2025 high school graduation rate results appear to illustrate that.
“We have been educating students for how many years now? How are we getting worse at it?” Questioned Domanowski.
Going back to 2011, the graduation rate in Baltimore County Schools was 83.1%. From there it began to increase to a high of 89.2% in 2018. Then it began to fall all the way to 84.3% in 2025 – which is now the lowest rate in 14 years.
In that time, the budget for the school system has greatly increased. In 2025, BCPS’s general fund budget stood at $1.99 Billion. In 2011, the general fund budget was $1.21 Billion. Meaning, taxpayers increased the general fund budget by $780 million over those 14 years, which exceeds the rate of inflation.
“The solution is to make the best decisions for students to forget about the cost, the money, the contracts, the bureaucracy,” Domanowski told Project Baltimore. “Every decision we make has to be because it's best for the students’ education.”
What does Domanowski mean by that?
Over the past five school years, the total number of employees who work for BCPS grew by about 250. But the number of teachers has been declining. In 2021, BCPS had 7,821 teachers. By 2025, that number was down to 7,341 teachers. There are more district employees but fewer teachers. Domanowski says that is the problem.
“I understand that these are people's jobs, but the education system is not in the business of creating jobs for adults,” said Domanowski. “They're in the business to educate students, period.
Regarding the 14-year low in graduation rates, BCPS, in a statement to Fox45 News, attributes, “heightened fears in our community regarding the uptick in immigration enforcement.” The district explained the decline in the graduation rate is mostly due to “Hispanic and multilingual student groups”, which fell by 4.9% and 6.3%, respectively.
The district added it’s grateful for advocates who favor, “stronger policies that will protect students and safeguard their rights to access educational programs free from fear.”
“I'm tired of hearing excuses. Just step up and do something. Make a change, admit that things are not going in the right direction, Domanowski told Project Baltimore. And have the courage to pivot and figure out what's best for our kids, what's best for their education.”
In Baltimore County, there are 12 members of the school board. Seven are elected. Four are appointed by the governor. And one student member. The primary election is in June.