The Wicomico County Board of Education will continue to review and discuss proposed budget reductions in anticipation of having substantially less funding for fiscal 2011. The Board received the proposed reductions at a work session Tuesday, Dec. 22.
Among the proposed reductions discussed at the work session are a redesign of the Magnet program, elimination of Adult Education, Beyond the Limits and the Year Round Education Program at Delmar Elementary School, and many staffing changes. All of the proposed budget reductions would be difficult, the Board said, and all will be discussed in the coming weeks and months as the Board prepares to adopt a fiscal 2011 budget to send to the Wicomico County Council by March 15.
The Board and Superintendent of Schools Dr. John Fredericksen said that the focus will be on preserving a high-quality education for all students and keeping the effect of cuts away from the classroom, while at the same time not eliminating personnel the school system needs to carry out its mission of providing “all students an educational foundation and a set of skills which will enable them to become responsible and productive citizens in our society.”
The Board of Education will hold its first public input meeting of the fiscal 2011 budget year on Thursday, Jan. 14, at 5:30 p.m. in the Board of Education auditorium. Please call 410-677-4561 for information.
The Board has already been informed by County Executive Richard M. Pollitt Jr. that it will receive approximately $5 million less from the county in next year’s budget, and that the county would not therefore meet the Maintenance of Effort requirement for the school system to receive new state aid. Pollitt has also informed the school system that, based on projected county revenues, the county anticipates reducing funding for Wicomico County Public Schools over the next several years. The school system may also see reduced state funding next year. State aid is based upon a school system’s full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment as of Sept. 30 each year. As of Sept. 30, 2009, the school system’s FTE enrollment for state aid purposes declined by 51 students, even though overall enrollment actually increased by 29 students with prekindergarten students included. Current state aid formulas exclude prekindergarten students from the Sept. 30 FTE calculation.
At the work session, Dr. Fredericksen presented the Board with two tiers of budget reductions totaling nearly $6.5 million for fiscal 2011; these Tier I and Tier II proposed budget reductions will be posted on the Board’s web site at www.wcboe.org.
The Tier I reductions of $5.9 million will almost certainly be needed to prepare a balanced budget, though there could still be changes to some of the items listed in Tier I, Dr. Fredericksen said. Tier II reductions of almost $588,000 have also been identified, to be used if needed. The superintendent and his staff have prepared additional tiers of reductions in case they are needed.
Tier I of the proposed budget reductions includes four major program changes. Approximately $344,000 could be saved by serving Magnet-eligible students with accelerated programs in their home schools instead of at regional centers. Another $296,000 will be saved by the elimination of the Adult Education program, which is moving to another provider in accordance with state funding. The Board would save about $180,000 by eliminating the Beyond the Limits ropes course program. Finally, approximately $75,000 would be saved by ending the Year Round Education program at Delmar Elementary and serving those students in the traditional program at Delmar Elementary.
The proposed change in Magnet would result in students no longer being transported to one of two Magnet centers, but instead being served with Magnet-level instruction at the home school. This would increase the opportunity for high-achieving students to receive accelerated instruction, since right now many Magnet-eligible students do not attend Magnet at North Salisbury or Pemberton elementary schools due to concerns about transportation time or due to a desire to remain in the home school. Changing the way Magnet instruction is delivered would expand the opportunity to more eligible students, reduce transportation issues, and save money on staffing and transportation, Dr. Fredericksen said.
“We are not taking away the Magnet program,” Board President Mark S. Thompson said. “We’re looking at expanding it, and not just expanding it, but offering it in more elementary schools.”
“It’s an expansion of the program, not doing away with it,” Board member Ronald Willey said. “I would very much oppose doing away with that program. We need that program,” Willey said, to challenge highly able students who are performing well beyond grade level. Dr. Fredericksen has a team working to develop that same rigor in all home schools with intermediate grades.
A decision on proposed changes to the Magnet program must be made in time to correspond with changes made as a result of redistricting. The Redistricting Task Force is currently gathering information and will make recommendations to the superintendent in a few weeks.
At the end of this fiscal year, June 30, 81 employees will retire through the school system’s Early Notification Program. “It is our hope to save significant budget dollars by not filling 25-30 vacancies left by ENP retirements,” Dr. Fredericksen said.
In addition to positions cut through the alteration or elimination of the programs described above, other position reductions in Tier I (totaling 30 positions) include reducing three elementary math and four elementary reading professional development coaches, converting four in-school suspension teaching positions to instructional assistants, converting some psychologist positions to 10-month positions, eliminating a vacant project manager position from Facility Services, realigning Central Office staff to eliminate at least one position, eliminating four secondary teaching positions due to realignments, and replacing staff positions for the Instructional Resource Center and a new teacher mentor with contractual help.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
21 comments:
What really gets you is that if they can save this much all of a sudden,why in heavens name have they not been doing it this way all along!
Now, as a County Employee, what really boggles my mind about this article is that the BOE says that it could save $6M next year-why couldn't they have done that THIS YEAR? Obviously there are cuts that could have been made that were not made in the 2009 fiscal year & we all know that if you can voluntarily cut $6M that you could be able to cut even more & still operate the same level of service-just like some of the other departments in the County have! Its the simple things that should have been cut- like why was the BOE still spending $180,000 on a ropes course program? Why are all the tax payers paying for these "special" programs when all the students of the tax payers aren't participating in them? The ropes course was offered when I was in school, but I & the majority of other were never once was invited to participate.
In addition, if the BOE reduced their overall budget adequately they could reduce their maintenance of effort requirement & actually still be able to meet the State's requirement-I bet they haven't thought about that...
One last note I would like to leave on: what hasn't the County initiated early retirement for the remainder of the County employees? The County could save a boat load of money by doing this! I personally know of at least 11 County employees that have at least 25 years of services with the County. Those people also happen to be some of the most highly paid County employees! Why not force them into retirement & hire new employees at a lower salary to fill their positions? Two of the most overpaid employees would be eliminated; Creamer & Shea! The executive needs to get smart about appropriate budget cuts before he EVER considers touching the revenue cap! There's no way that I'm paying higher taxes or going through a potential layoff just to support over paid salaries, especially when I can honestly say that I show up for work every day & do the job that I should be paid more to do!
This is going to take two post…
As a former magnet school student, I personally feel as though the program can hurt these students more than help. Students spend twice as much time (or more) on a bus each day, wake up earlier & get home later than other students in standard schooling. I remember the 1.5 hours I spent every morning & every afternoon riding a bus to school each day. I lost an hour more of sleep & an hour more of play every day than the "other" kids had. This can hurt young students-less sleep can lead to poor classroom performance & less play can lead to poor social skills & childhood obesity. Fortunately for me, I wasn't affected by these aspects; however, I know that a lot were. The magnet program doesn't get students that far ahead either-I was actually placed in middle & high school classes that were considered upper level (CM & a couple AP), but not unachievable at all for those not in magnet. In fact, I had more "regular" school classmate in my high school classes than former magnet classmates.
A lot of times, parents force their children into the magnet program in order to get the "best" education possible so you get a lot of students that don't really belong there. This not only hurts the student that shouldn't be there, but also the other students that get brought down because of it. You know, the no child left behind program? Well that applies to the magnet program too! This breaks the magnet program. I feel as though there should be special fees/taxes to those parents who choose to put their students in the Magnet Program-why should the majority of tax payers pay for what I like to call "publicly private" education? You want it, then you pay for it! It is a hell of an expense to bus these students around & pay for these teachers' salaries. Has the County ever even done studies on high school performance, college placement, job placement & post-education salaries for those students that were enrolled in the Magnet Program? Probably not! Do they really do that well? I know a bunch of magnet students that have gone nowhere in life-does the Magnet Program even work well enough to consider keeping it & why haven't these studies be conducted??
The BOE should simply offer elementary advanced placement classes at each school. It does not need to be at one or two schools-the magnet program was only at North Salisbury when I was in it, but they could have easily had the program at several schools. This would also allow students that excel in certain subjects like math or science to take the upper level classes in those areas while taking classes like reading & history at a "normal" level. There is no need make students struggle when they can get the basic education that they need & excel in areas in which they are good.
There is no way on earth that eliminating the magnet shuttle buses will save hundreds of thousands of dollars. The real estimate is closer to $45,000. There is no extra money involved for salaries, books, etc. Where are they getting those ridiculous figures?
Expanding a program for advanced students is a nice way to say watering it down. Some schools have two or three advanced kids per grade level. Busing those kids to a magnet center enabled them to work with kids of advanced ability like themselves. With the "redesign" of magnet, those two or three will not be an entire class in their home school so the group will be expanded to include 20 or 25 more who are not advanced.
It should be time to expand varsity sports teams to include kids that can't play very well. Same idea.
Eliminating one or two positions at the Central Office? That is an insult to the rest of us who work in the system. Magnet, ropes course, year round, professional development coaches actually work in the schools. THE WASTE IS AT THE CENTRAL OFFICE!!!!!!
Get rid of all liaisons, the staff development coordinator, the school climate expert, and so on. A full time person to organize a few professional days and one banquet is criminal.
Does anyone have any idea how many positions there are at the Central Office? There are all kinds of supervisors, directors, coordinators, and others with various titles. Under the Freedom of Information Act, the Daily Times should list every person at the Central Office, his/her title, and salary. I think many of you would be shocked at the sheer number of employees in the higher echelon and the salaries they are being paid (most at or near six-figure). I wonder how many of these positions could be eliminated by re-assigning them back to the classroom. With 81 retiring this year (I think that is the number) under the golden-parachute type of offer that was begun a few years ago, there would be plenty of positions that could be filled by returning these superfluous Central Office people to the schools. Yet, the proposal is for reducing Central Office by just one employee. Get real!
I see very little about eliminating BOE administrative personnel just teacher positions. I see no sarary reductions. Is there something wrong with this picture since saary reductions are mandatory for County and State employees?
Look at the one who just plans a few minutes of PAC 14 programming for an entire month. How can that be a full-time job? That do-nothing assignment was created to find a place for someone who wasn't needed then and isn't needed now.
Some people who signed up for ENP left earlier than they agreed to do and some stayed longer without repaying the money. To give someone a 10% bonus every year for three years to say when they MIGHT retire is high class theft from the taxpayers. The upper echelon at the BOE proposed it and got the most money from it. Why was it a percent of salary?
Really have to agree. You simply can not say you are trying to cut non classroom items, and then only cut one board level position.
instead of talking at the top, the budgeting folks need to spend some time talking to the people in the trenches, and see how things really work.
There is a reason that the armed services have a MCPO of the ___ , and Sergeant-Major of the _____. These ground level forces talk to the top leaders, and speak it as it is.
I really do wonder what this means for materials next year. Also, remember the contract is up for negotiation, even though the BOE is free to impose whatever contract they choose.
Currently most elementary classrooms have anywhere from 20 students to 33 students in a classroom. Less teachers = more students per classroom. How many of you would like your child to be in a classroom with 30 or more students and 1 teacher? Get in your children's classrooms and 'see' how the system works. Knowledge is power.
The BOE couold have cut these programs earlier, but I'm sure they didn't want to because it directly effects the students. I think they were trying to hold on as long as they could. I do think, however, that cuts could have been made in other areas. But everyone knows that if they did that, the line item would be reduced the next year. No one wants to see that, especially when you know that those things may need more money the next fiscal year.
Eliminate the gathering at the Civic Center in August, because teachers and administrators need to be in the schools getting ready for students. Central office people like the gathering because getting ready for the first day of school means nothing to them.
I agree with anonymous 10:11am.
The waste is in Central Office! Every time I go there...the secretaries in HR are just talking and looking at Avon books, Home Interiors, etc...
To all those who want to criticize everything about the BOE, the central office, teachers that have been there too long and all that blah blah blah, please don't. Until you have walked in each of their shoes (everyone who works in the schools or offices), please don't beat these people down.
I don't care what these people make because I don't have the patience they do. Admin, teachers and office staff deal with obnoxious parents and children everyday and then some. And of course "their" child does nothing wrong. They deal with children cursing at them, destroying school and personal property and harming themselves and others. Don't say - Just get rid of the kids. It is so not that simple.
MOST of the Admin and teachers deserve what they make and more. I AM SURE you could NOT walk in their shoes. I do not work for the BOE.
How much do you earn? I am sure where you work, they could reduce your salary and I am sure you have social/free time ON the clock.
Thank you Joe for all you do.
s.m. in fruitland
Magnet kids ride high school buses to the high schools and are then transported a few miles to Pemberton or North. Same at the end of the day. That does not cost $2,000 MORE PER DAY than if those kids were being transported from home to an elementary school and from school back home. Magnet kids have no extra books, no extra technology, parents pay for field trips, classes are larger than regular elementary classes, no extra personnel, etc. THERE IS NO WAY THAT PROGRAM COSTS $2,000 more per day than if those kids were in their home schools. Is the Board not figuring the cost of transporting them and instructing them at their home schools? That figure is nothing but a lie.
to anonymous 8:53p.m.
how exactly are you aware of the exact costs of transporting? are you aware of contracts to bus owners, drivers and gas. (among other things)That these costs would not be put out because routes already exist for their home school? just curious.
where do your children attend school? mine are in magnet and you know what, I am going to go with the flow no matter what happens to magnet. It is as much my responsibility to teach my child as it is the schools.
Saying, "That figure is nothing but a lie." is pretty strong....
as always, thank you Joe.
s.m.
I agree with 10:11 we don't need those added on jobs..sorry but we need teachers more than loosing them...as for the liasons you can have volunteers to do that and other jobs. There are moms and dads out there that are alwasy looking to do something and help out their child's school...
9:37
The figure first quoted by the BOE as the cost for magnet buses was $42,000. It was in the DT and stated by T. Sahler, one of the two public relations people at the central office. Now it is over 8 times that. It's just a way to make getting rid of magnet seem more necessary.
Someone needs to tell Ronald Willey two things. First, Margo Handy and Susan Jones strongly oppose ability grouping in the elementary schools and don't want smart kids grouped together. Schools that currently group by ability have been asked to change. Second, if a parent asks for a child to be placed in the top group when the child has no qualifications to be there, the former and the present director tell the principal the placement is exactly correct but to move the child to satisfy the parent. Ron Willey needs to know or maybe he already does.
To 9:37
The quote given the first time magnet shuttle buses were mentioned was around $40,000. Somehow it's increased almost ten times since then. Something is a lie.
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