Posted: Friday, March 3, 2006 1:00 am | Updated: 11:44 am, Wed Nov 25, 2009. By Scott Goss
The Cecil County Public School System would add more than 70 new employees and $15 million in spending next school year under a budget proposal being considered by the school board.
If approved, the increase would be the largest in Cecil County’s public schools in at least a decade.
Superintendent Carl Robert’s proposed $162 million operating budget for fiscal year 2007 would be 10.2 percent more than the current $147 million spending plan.
The Cecil County Board of Education is scheduled to begin considering the budget proposal Monday night. The members of the board will vote on a final request March 13.
Their version of the proposal then becomes the school system’s formal request to the Cecil County commissioners, who must adopt a county budget by July 1.
“We’ve listened to all the things the administration wants to do next year, and now we’re ready to begin examining whether what they want matches up with our priorities,” school board president William Herold said Thursday.
Even though administrators are asking for more in 2007 than in any one of the past 10 years, Herold said he does not expect the board’s job to be any easier.
“If you look at what it will cost us to meet our obligations to the various employee unions, the federal mandates for special education and keeping up with our fixed charges, you’re talking about $10 to $12 million right there,” Herold said Thursday. “And that doesn’t include money for any new initiatives.”
The school system’s budget has nearly doubled since Roberts was hired in 1996, due in part to legislation that requires the state to pick up a larger share of the cost.
Under the administration’s proposal for next year, the county would contribute $67 million, or 44 percent of the budget, compared to the $85.7 million, or 56 percent that would come from the state.
A decade ago, the county assumed 51 percent of the school system’s budget, while the state picked up 49 percent.
Student enrollment, meanwhile, has increased by 9.9 percent in the last 10 years. The student population is expected to grow by 101 students in 2007, or less than 1 percent.
Large increases in spending despite relatively low increases in student enrollment are nothing new for the county’s school system.
Since 2003, enrollment has increased by an average of 2 percent a year. Yet the school system has consistently set the record for the largest single-year budget increase in each of those years.
But Herold Thursday said he does not see that as an indication of excessive spending.
“In my mind, it’s not a fair comparison because the real question is what does it cost to educate our students properly?” he said. “I believe that for a long time we were not spending enough for education. Even today, we’re 20th in the state in terms of county spending on public education.”
Funding the school system’s operating budget is split between the county and state governments, with a small portion paid by the federal government and other sources.
The federal government and other sources would fund the remaining $9.1 million, or 6 percent, of the budget.
Of the $15 million in new spending proposed for fiscal year 2007, the county would be asked to cover about $5 million, while the state would pick up almost $10 million.
The largest increase proposed in the 2007 operating budget is a $3.8 million boost for instruction-based salaries and wages, which includes the pay for classroom teachers, support teachers, paraprofessionals, media specialists, guidance counselors and psychologists.
The proposed increase would raise the level of spending in that category from $56.5 million to $60.38 million, a boost of 6.8 percent.
Most of that added cost would come in the form of new hires and pay raises for existing employees.
Barbara Wheeler, associate superintendent of education services, has proposed adding 28.81 new teachers, 3.5 new guidance counselors and 8.5 new paraprofessionals.
Those new hires and pay raises for existing employees would add about $4.3 million to the payroll, while cuts in other areas would eliminate $1 million.
Wheeler said the new instructional positions would support several new school initiatives.
For instance, she said, the expansion of full-day kindergarten necessitates the addition of seven new teachers and more than eight new paraprofessionals. The addition of a dance course in the elementary school would account for another eight new teachers, while the expansion of foreign language instruction in the middle schools would require five new teachers, she said.
Those positions do not include the school system’s proposed allocation for special education teachers and programs.
The special education category is proposed to increase by $2.26 million, or about 14.8 percent. The largest increase in that category would cover transfers, while about $1 million would cover raises for existing personnel and the addition of 28.7 new positions, including seven new teachers and more than 15 new paraprofessionals.
Another $3.8 million increase is proposed in the school system’s budget for fixed charges, which includes employee benefits like unemployment, life insurance, medical insurance, Social Security and other costs.
That increase would raise the amount spent on fixed charges from $24.7 million to $28.6 million, a boost of 15.5 percent.
Rising costs associated with providing transportation and operating the county’s 30 schools would add another $2.76 million in spending under the administration’s budget proposal.
Proposed enhancements to the transportation budget include raises for 26 transportation employees, the addition of a second bus driver trainer, the replacement of 15 buses and the addition of four new bus routes.
Meanwhile, administrators are anticipating a 30 percent increase in utility costs, which include electricity, fuel oil, natural gas and propane. That cost is expected to add $1.3 million to the budget.
Both the board of education’s budget work session Monday night and its final vote March 13 are open to the public.
Copies of the budget proposal can be obtained by calling 410-996-5474 or by accessing the school system’s Web site at Posted: Friday, March 3, 2006 1:00 am | Updated: 11:44 am, Wed Nov 25, 2009. By Scott Gosssgoss@cecilwhig.com www.ccps.org.
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