At today’s work session of the Wicomico County Council, the Board of Education, with the apparent approval of the County Executive, Rick Pollitt, discussed a plan for certain fund balances held by the Board to be "returned" by it to the County, which would use that money to increase the appropriation to the Board (in effect, returning the money to it) and thereby close the $2 Million funding deficit in the current budget. Last week, the County’s request that the State Board of Education grant a waiver for that deficit – in order that the County schools could receive all of the available funding by the State for next year’s budget – was denied.
The proposed plan to reduce and then replace the fund balances has not been reviewed by the County Attorney, Edgar Baker, according to Mr. Pollitt when asked by the Council. Several persons suggested that it should also be reviewed by the (Maryland) Attorney General’s office to determine if it would be satisfactory to achieve the maintenance of effort of county funding of the school system that is required to obtain the state funding.
Further information to follow – the details of the plan are not available to the public at this time.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
10 comments:
Sure does sound like a shell game to me! If the BOE has that much money being held for whatever, I see little or no need to allow such games to be played, nor do I see any need for a county increase of the size BOE is requesting. They need to live within the money they have like most other departments in the county. A way to make it up, is to cut administrative positions and lower the pay of other employees, especially the teachers. Times are tough all over, so accept it!
Here we go again!
If WiCo can do this scam, they might as well have granted that waiver request.
Heard this money came from building construction. If so, it will only put the new Bennett Middle behind schedule.
I doubt that this was money that is needed to run the day to day function of the schools. Had to be from some other type of acct.
Does Pamela Oland work there too?
I smell a(nother) slick Rick trick!
Joe:
Who at the State School Board that can blow the whistle before it's too late. Please let us have his or her name and e-mail address to send a wake-up message about this scam.
Before everyone jumps out of their shorts, let's all find out if anything is illegal here. Like Joe said, the attorney is looking at it. If all is legal, I see no issues in the BOE doing this.
I think it is a good move if the money is put away somewhere. Give back 2 million to get almost 6 million in new funding. Why are we complaining!
Let me see...If I give you 2,000 and you give me 6,000 back...why would I do it...good business sense
The point is that if you have 2 million to give back what account is it coming from? If 2 million from capital improvements is lost to keep funding the dozens of recently created do little positions then the kids have lost.
Re: 10:39 Posting
I agree that we need to find out precisely how this transaction is being proposed to occur.
If the bottom line is to insulate the BOE through the current recesssion without them having to actually cut anything . . .then we the taxpayers ought to revolt because the whole process would then be illegal.
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