Allegany, Garrett schools facing drastic cuts if state lawmakers don’t act
Kristin Harty Barkley Cumberland Times-News
— CUMBERLAND — Area educators say they’re optimistic that state lawmakers will reconvene in the weeks ahead to work out a budget that doesn’t include such devastating cuts for public schools.
But they’re worried it might be too late.
“Time is really of the essence right now,” said Evan West, Univserv director at Allegany County Teachers Association, who wore red on Thursday as part of a local effort to implore state leaders to act — and quickly.
The so-called “Doomsday Budget” — which includes around $3.4 million in cuts for Allegany County Public Schools and around $1 million for Garrett schools — went into effect earlier this month after lawmakers failed to agree upon a budget before the end of the 90-day session.
The Maryland State Education Association posted a “Doomsday Clock” on its website last week, which outlines in red the effects of the cuts.
“It’s a little theatrical, but it’s real,” West said. “You get to a certain point where counties can’t adopt budgets based on anything other than what they know, and right now what they know is that the doomsday budget is the law of the land. … We’re concerned about whether the effects of a special session will be timely enough to prevent the cuts we’re looking at right now.”
The Garrett County Board of Education voted on Tuesday to close two elementary schools and cut 28 teacher positions to deal with its anticipated shortfall. The Allegany County Board of Education hasn’t proposed any major program cuts yet, but is dipping deeply into its fund balance to make ends meet.
Allegany County commissioners have put their budget process on hold for now, but local governments must approve budgets well ahead of the beginning of the fiscal year, July 1.
The uncertainty has everyone on edge, including teachers.
“Tension is just incredibly high,” said Lynne Elmlinger, a kindergarten teacher at Broad Ford Elementary School in Garrett County. “I’ve never seen morale this low in all my years of teaching. … It’s hard to deal with. We’ve had tears. We’ve had a lot of that, actually.”
Some teachers fear that increased class sizes and a higher student/teacher ratio will decrease the quality of education that students receive. In Allegany County, 90 positions have been eliminated through attrition over the past five years, though not all were teachers.
“As we’re losing teachers it’s going back to we’re losing the special ed inclusion teachers, so there goes the one-on-one help that we try to provide in the high schools,” said Christa Williams, who teaches science at the Center for Career & Technical Education. “We’re providing that now, but as we keep losing teachers …”
Mount Savage consumer science teacher Carol McBride said that smaller class sizes help teachers spot troubled students early and get them on track.
“If you get the student ready to learn and eager to learn and having success, then he’s going to be good all through school,” McBride said. “But if he gets defeated at the beginning, he’s going to have problems through school and he’s not going to be successful in life.”
Some teachers are concerned, too, about losing funds for supplies and technology.
“If I lose lab money, there goes some hands-on, real life connections for my kids because I just can’t afford to do it out of pocket,” the Career Center’s Williams said. “We’re losing opportunties for our kids.”
Misty Dodson, who teaches at Cresaptown Elementary, which won a national Blue Ribbon award recently, said educators want to be able to maintain the quality of education they’re providing. Maryland was named No. 1 in the nation for the fourth consecutive year for high-quality public schools.
“All we’re asking is for the legislators to provide us a budget so that we can maintain that excellence,” Dodson said. “We want to continue to provide that quality of education instead of relinquishing to mediocrity.”
Across Garrett and Allegany counties, educators wore red on Thursday as part of the “Wear Red for Public Ed” campaign to urge lawmakers to act.
Northeast Elementary School teacher John Reuschlein said local public school employees are still in “a state of shock” over the the legislature’s failure to pass a budget.
“The great concern is to have the governor reconvene the legislators and make a realistic budget so that we aren’t damaged by this doomsday budget,” Reuschlein said. “… It’s important that the special session be called as early as possible because the counties have to make their budgets and we have to make our budgets. Class sizes are being determined now, as we’re speaking.”
Contact Kristin Harty Barkley at kbarkley@times-news.com
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