The Board of Education gave final approval to its fiscal 2019 operating and capital budgets Wednesday morning — the votes were unanimous, with two members absent.
During the meeting, President Julie Hummer said she appreciated the work all parties did to collaborate on the budget, as well as the public which communicated their priorities.
But it still doesn’t fill every need and class sizes will likely go up, Hummer said.
“We’re not addressing enough the mental and social health issues of our students, nor of our English language learners,” she said.
She urged people to continue working to address long-neglected needs in the system, though pointed to multiple administrations and not specifically County Executive Steve Schuh.
“This is not the fault of anyone who is in authority now, that the funding has not been keeping up,” she said.
Maria Sasso, who represents District 30 on the board, said the budget covers the bare needs of the system, but said she understands Schuh and the County Council tried their best based on budget constraints.
The County Council approved its budget, funding the school system, last Friday. There is no opportunity to appeal the budget presented by the council, Hummer said.
The board could have reallocated the money it was given within categories in the operating budget, but no changes were made. It doesn’t have the authority to reallocate money within the capital budget, according to a press release.
The budget includes 86 new teachers to address enrollment — 20 shy of what the board requested earlier this year to address the needs of a growing school system. And of the 30 positions the board requested to address enrollment growth for English Language Acquisition, none were funded.
The fiscal year 2019 operating budget provides $1.5 million less for instruction supplies and materials compared to fiscal 2018. Chief Operating Officer Alex Szachnowicz explained why.
Textbooks are replaced about once every six, seven or eight years, he said. They typically budget about $10 million for that purpose. The system has a pressing need for more teachers, and after looking at areas where funds could be shifted, Szachnowicz said Superintendent George Arlotto recommended the County Council shift $1 million that would have been used to purchase textbooks to hire 13 new teachers instead. The purchase of those books has been delayed a year, Szachnowicz said.
“We know that’s not the position any of us wished we were in,” he said.
The fiscal 2019 operating budget also includes six new special education positions, two school psychologists, two social workers and four guidance counselors. A half position was included to implement restorative practices in the system — one full time and one part-time employee are currently training staff and responding to schools when needed.
It also included positions to open the Carrie Weedon Early Education Center to serve south county and positions to expand the system’s Enhancing Elementary Excellence program into the Annapolis cluster.
Agreements ratified with the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Association of Educational Leaders were not fully funded, and will need to be renegotiated this summer, Szachnowicz said.
The County Council provided enough funding for a step increase at the start of the year and a mid-year step increase for all eligible employees.
On the capital budget side, $47.4 million was allocated to continue construction of Crofton Area High School. Edgewater, Tyler Heights and Richard Henry Lee elementary schools will also see long-needed revitalization projects begin at a cost of $16.7 million, $15.2 million and $15.6 million respectively.
In the six-year capital budget plan money to design Old Mill High School West, slated to be built on the former property of Papa John’s farm, will come two years from now, in fiscal 2021. That is in line with the six-year plan that was approved by the council last year.
The board asked to pull that planning funding forward to fiscal 2020, and advocates once again testified at public hearings calling for funding and citing a 2006 study that identified the Old Mill High School, part of a facility that includes two middle schools, as a top priority. This year, the plan faced some resistance from people who raised safety concerns about building a new high school across the street from Archbishop Spalding High School.
