County budget crisis leads to cuts, but not furloughs

With the nation’s economic struggles continuing to affect everyday life, and governments across the nation being forced to reduce spending and extinguish deficits, Montgomery County is attempting to make further cuts to the school system’s budget for next year.

Although the school system already outlined budget cuts totaling $137.7 million for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, the county needs to cut an additional $24.4 million. According to a May 19 joint union press release, the cuts will come from the operating budget and from funds for construction and technology.  The press release also stated that MCPS employees will not be furloughed.

Furloughing MCPS employees could have caused major problems, according to Principal Joan Benz.

“Basically, the furloughs [would not have solved] the problem,” Benz said. “The problem is that the money has been spent and [the superintendent of MCPS, Jerry Weast] does not want the Council to come back and say that the school system will get less money.”

Though mandatory furloughs for 5-10 days for the entire school system could have saved an estimated 33.7 million dollars, requiring furloughs within the system could create transportation, food service and teaching problems.

“If a bus driver has to take a day off, would there be no transportation?” Benz asked. “We’re not trying to be different from firefighters and policeman; we have different jobs.”
If employees had been required to take time off, it would most likely not have been cost efficient to hire substitutes, and for some positions, substitutes are hard to find.

According to Benz, mandating employee furloughs would have shortened the school year because the school simply cannot function with so many people not working. However, closing schools could create further problems for the children of poor families, who rely on the school for their main meals everyday.

The county has until May 27 to determine the budget for next year, and according to the May 19 press release, the unions are “confident that the additional cut can be absorbed without resorting to furloughs.”

Despite the upcoming budget cuts, the county will take on an additional fee–the salaries of 17 Educational Facilities Officers (EFO). The current 33 EFOs are on the police payroll, though that number will be reduced to 17, and the county will now assume responsibility for their pay

“It is wonderful that MCPS is going to pick up the expenses because they have added greatly to the school environment,” Benz said.

MCR discusses food service, budget

Recent meetings of the Montgomery County Region (MCR) of the Maryland Association of Student Councils have been primarily concerned with the food service industry within MCPS and the country budget crisis.

According to sophomore class MCR Representative Hal Zeitlin, the main goal of food service in schools is to be appealing, high quality, nutritious and respectful of students, needs and differences. Vegetarian and vegan options are also made available to students every day.

The meeting also discussed how MCPS is facing an extreme budget shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year. The Board of Education cut $200 million through reductions, reorganization and cutbacks.

MCPS is asking the County Council for a one percent increase in their operation budget to $2.2 billion due to an increase in the student population of MCPS.

All students interested in participating in the process should attend the Montgomery County Council meeting in April to voice their opinions.

Signature Programs suffer budget freeze

The fates of the Math, Science and Technology Academy (MTS) and International Studies (IS) Academy are unknown as CHS waits for the approval or denial of a budget-freeze exemption request from MCPS.

The requested funds would pay for teacher stipends necessary to run the mentoring programs in the Academies.  Rexahn Pharmaceuticals donated $4,254 to MTS so that the sophomore class could continue its independent experiment this year, but MTS still needs stipend funds for the freshmen MTS experimental design analysis instructional module which takes place after school for eight weeks.

“Our hopes are that we can sustain the Academy during these tough fiscal times by reaching out to the community for support, as in the situation with our community partner, Rexahn Pharmeceuticals,” Signature Program director Barbara Blazer said.

According to Blazer, the Arts Academy will not be closed because it does not require additional funding for after-school programs.  The IS academy, however, requires mentors that cannot be paid for because of the freeze.

“The money required is for the IS advisors [to help students] with their dedicated research study project and Powerpoint presentation,” Blazer said.    “However, as of now, these funds are frozen.”

Blazer is currently attempting to restore some of the funding for the program.

“Although I’ve resubmitted the budget freeze exception request, I have no direction from the people at [MCPS] central office and no official word from the director of Enriched and Innovated Programs at the central office,” Blazer said.

Due to its current budget shortfall, MCPS has made similar cuts to Signature Programs throughout the county.

“Right now Montgomery County is looking at a difficult budget crunch,” MCPS Public Information Office director Dana Tofig said.  “There isn’t a piece of the budget that hasn’t had to take a cut. We are trying to maintain the level of service that we provide for our students, but we have to meet our budgetary percentages.”