Board of Ed Submits Budget to Commissioners
Originally Published: February 7, 2024
“We’ve never presented a worst case scenario like this before.”
The Board of Education approved the Superintendent’s recommended budget on January 31st, which will now be forwarded to the County Commissioners. The budget asks for approximately $9.6M in additional County funding, which was reduced from the initial ask of $14M. This is primarily due to the Blueprint funding formula showing a reduction in State funding for St. Mary’s County Public Schools (SMCPS). The Blueprint uses a wealth-equalized formula, and because the State recognizes St. Mary’s is a wealthy county, the State and County must split school funding 50/50.
The additional $9.6M requested by SMCPS includes $816K for operational and maintenance costs for buses, plus a pay increase for bus drivers and attendants. Additionally, $8.7M to pay for a 10% teacher salary increase required by the Blueprint with a deadline of 6/30/24, and to achieve a $60K starting salary (also Blueprint required) by 7/1/26. While Superintendent Scott Smith acknowledged the funding formula is not fair to the County, he said this is the reality. “It all falls on the County Commissioners, and they are under no legally mandated obligation to increase our funding for next year,” Smith said.
Should the additional funding not be realized, the Board identified areas where cuts could be made. These include compensation for St. Mary’s Association of Supervisors and Administrators (SMASA), Education Association of St. Mary’s County (EASMC), and Education Support Professionals (ESP) negotiated agreements, as well as transportation wage increases. Additionally, instructional programming like the Fairlead, STEM, GIS, and AVPA Academies, and Instructional Resource Teacher positions could be reduced. Funding to the Chesapeake Public Charter School may be reduced to minimum levels. Class sizes could increase to 30 students per room in elementary schools, and as many as 35 per room in middle and high schools. “We’ve never presented a worst case scenario like this before,” said Board Chair Karin Bailey. “Many of the people who grow up here, stay here. I think it’s important to remember that,” remarked Board Member Cathy Allen.
“We can’t continue being the school system we are without having the money provided,” Superintendent Smith said. He explained the Blueprint doesn’t include funding for things like fine arts, athletics, and other extracurriculars. Smith referred once again to the County’s ability to increase revenue by millions through raising taxes, even slightly. In a letter dated February 1st and provided to the Commissioners, Smith explains the finalized budget and gives a recommendation. “The assessment of a $0.056 “Blueprint Tax” as a component of the FY2025 property tax rates may well be worth considering, as it would generate an additional $8.6M in revenues that could be used to fund the legal mandates of the Blueprint legislation,” Smith wrote.
The Income Tax rate was increased to 3.17% by the Commissioners in 2020 because of the need to increase school funding. It has since been lowered twice.
