Council Questions Board of Education on Found Money

Council President Valerie Ervin sent a letter to Board of Education President Christopher Barclay asking if the board will go ahead with previously announced program cuts after MCPS said late last week it “suddenly discovered millions of dollars in additional resources and intends to meet the Council’s approved FY12 budget level for MCPS without making changes to the employee cost-sharing required for health benefits.”

The complete text of Council President Ervin’s letter:

June 6, 2011


TO: Christopher Barclay, President
Montgomery County Board of Education

FROM: Valerie Ervin, Council President

SUBJECT: FY12 MCPS Budget

The Council understands that the Board of Education has suddenly discovered millions of dollars in additional resources and intends to meet the Council’s approved FY12 budget level for MCPS without making changes to the employee cost-sharing required for health benefits. As you know, the Council’s budget action explicitly assumed a multi-million dollar reduction associated with a minor increase in school employee cost-sharing. The current share – 5% for employees in HMOs and 10% for others – is remarkably low. For example, federal employees on average pay 28%.

If the Board now finds itself with these additional dollars, do you still intend to implement the program cuts you tentatively approved on May 23? These include cuts to media assistants, academic intervention teachers, reading recovery teachers, staff development teachers, counselors, para-educators, and lunch hour aides. Will the Board use the newly discovered savings to restore these positions, or will you inflict the cuts on schools to preserve the employee share of health benefits?

In your May 19 statement to the community on the Council’s budget action, you said: “The Council has stated that they support the school system and that its cuts will not hurt the classroom. That simply isn’t true. Every school will feel the effects of these cuts.” On the contrary, the Council urged the Board to adjust employee health benefits explicitly to minimize cuts to the classroom and protect vital school services.

The Council urges the Board to reconsider its apparent budget approach and redirect any additional resources to the employees and programs that directly benefit our children. The Council would expeditiously consider any categorical transfer that might be required to achieve this important outcome for our schools. I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible on this matter.