Gentlemen of
the Calvert County Board of Commissioners, county staff, ladies and gentlemen:
When I agreed to come to Calvert County
Public Schools to be superintendent I knew I was coming to one of the highest
performing, best supported school districts in MD. I read the papers last budget season and knew
there were some challenges ahead. Those
challenges were confirmed in the early months of this school year.
I set a
goal to trim and get leaner, in order to stop the use of fund balance (savings/emergency
fund) for operating expenses and in order to provide raises. I submitted a budget in January that did
that. Then anticipated support from the
state was reduced by 3.2 million, then anticipated support from the county was
reduced, then we got a little back from the general assembly, then we were
advised that the county support would be reduced to the minimal maintenance of
effort (MoE), which was $1.25 million less than previously discussed.
Some truths
that we must acknowledge:
· We are
losing enrollment - that is a projection that is unchanged for the next decade.
· We,
the county, are losing revenues due to the economy.
· We
have been using fund balance for this the third year in a row just to make ends
meet.
· 80% of
our budget is spent on salary and benefits for employees.
· It
appears that without some change, we will be destined to slowly dismantle one
of the best school districts in MD.
The board of
education budget as submitted requests $117,875,742 which includes a little
over $4.8 million for teacher pension.
This request includes $3 million more than MoE funding for operating
costs. Even if you would grant that
amount of funding this budget request:
· provides no money for raises for employees
· relies upon $2 million in fund
balance
· reduces operating costs by $1 million
dollars
· eliminates 3 district office
administrator positions
· eliminates 3 vice principal positions
· reduces 5 vice-principal positions
from 12 month to 11 and 10 month
· eliminates 3 district office clerical
positions
· reduces teachers at schools
proportionate to loss of enrollment
If you would
grant that funding, we would be able to prevent a significant reduction in
teaching and support positions throughout the county. However, if we are funded at MoE as
indicated, our bare bones budget will have:
· 28 fewer teaching positions
· 31 fewer Instructional assistant positions
· 7.5 fewer deans than this school year
The total
number of positions targeted for elimination exceeds 75, however I want to be
clear we do not project that 75 individuals will be out of work when school
begins next year. This year we offered
a retirement incentive that almost 50 employees agreed to. With that and normal attrition it is more
likely that no more than 20, and perhaps far less than that, individuals will
find themselves unemployed by CCPS when school starts.
If 3 million
is too much and you would like to consider some targeted increases above MoE, I
can tell you that $500K will restore approximately 10 of the 28 teaching
positions. A reduction of 7.5 deans is
worth $365K. $225K will restore
approximate 10 of the 31 instructional assistants.
(Here I told
a clever story about a farmer losing his donkey in an old well. You had to be there.)
There are
things we can do together to resolve these issues.
I request
that you consider a temporary tax increase earmarked to support schools and
return to original number when Dominion payments begin.
At the very
least, lets agree to partner together to see what we can do to spur economic
development in Calvert County.
I don’t envy
you. You have a hard job. I would not want it. There is less to go around yet we all seem to
want more. I assure you that we will
continue to provide the best service to this community with whatever you
determine should be our allocation. But
if these conditions continue without change, it will be difficult for us to
maintain the same standard of quality that this community expects and
deserves.
Thank you.
