$25M More Budgeted For Harford Schools To Avoid Crisis: District, County Executive Say

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — The Harford County Board of Education and County Executive Bob Cassilly have agreed to contribute additional funding for school operations in fiscal year 2024 and to collaborate year-round on the use of taxpayer funds.

The Harford County Board of Education has agreed to contribute $15 million from fund balance reserves toward their own operating budget for fiscal year 2024. Bob Cassilly has agreed to contribute an extra $10 million, bringing the total increase to $25 million for next year, which is in addition to the expected increase in state funding for HCPS, county officials disclosed Thursday.

The school system’s contribution will come from their surplus of funds from prior years, also known as their “fund balance.” The county executive’s share will be directed to raise teacher salaries and/or reduce class sizes. The funds will be drawn from 2.5 percent cut by Cassilly from the current fiscal year 2023 budget across all county departments and other cost savings under his administration.

As part of the agreement, Harford County government and HCPS will follow a new budget process providing for year-round cooperation and sharing of information between the two agencies to effectively align resources and needs, the school district noted Thursday.

Both agencies also have agreed to continue working together to reduce redundancies, like last year’s opening of Harford County’s joint fleet maintenance facility for publicly-owned vehicles that includes school buses.

The proposed fiscal year 2024 budget for Harford County originally surpassed $1 billion, which officials first said is lower than the previous year's spending and doesn't raise tax rates, Patch reported.

Cassilly first said the proposed budget makes "unprecedented investments" in public safety and contributes to "full funding" for Harford County Public Schools.

“I have met with my budget team every day for the past four months and reviewed county spending and operations in detail to ensure we’re acting responsibly as good stewards of taxpayer funds. Like other counties and families across Maryland, we’re also facing a very uncertain economic future and steep cost increases from unfunded state mandates. I have not raised taxes as other Maryland counties have done. But we must act now to restore fiscal responsibility while maintaining essential services," Cassilly said in a statement issued in April.

The county leader said the budget he proposed reduces the county's structural deficit, increases funding for public safety and provides education funding in the amount required by the state.

"I encourage the Harford County Board of Education to take the same close look at their budget and operations to find efficiencies, especially in non-instructional salaries. However, they will be able to fully fund their budget by using a combination of county and state funds, and a portion of the $92 million in unspent taxpayer dollars they have amassed from prior years of overfunding," Cassilly said in April.

However, Harford County Public Schools leaders expressed disappointment in the proposed county budget in April, including Superintendent Sean W. Bulson. The superintendent described the county executive's efforts as "mortgaging our children’s future for political grandstanding."

“He is pandering to a conservative political base, one that doesn’t believe a quality education is critical to the success of a greater community. This deplorable budget is the worstcase scenario for our children. If it goes unchecked, it will cause a greater issue in the future and further undermine our ability to continue to offer a quality education to the children of Harford County. Your children deserve to continue receiving the best education possible," Bulson said in response to Cassilly's first proposed budget.

The budget in relation to the school district was described as the "worst case scenario" by school leaders.

"County Executive Bob Cassilly shows he doesn’t care about the children of Harford County and instead plans to use them as pawns in his game of politics. The FY2024 budget proposed by Mr. Cassilly reduces the amount of money received by Harford County Public Schools by $19.4 million from the previous fiscal year’s budget and $39 million below the Harford County Board of Education's request," the school district said in an April statement. "This is the equivalent of reducing spending by $1,000 per student."

The school district said this move is possible because of a law that passed the General Assembly in 2022 allowing for a one-time reduction of maintenance of effort.

"In one of his last votes as a state senator, Bob Cassilly voted against the law permitting the reduction. If the Harford County Council allows the budget to pass as it currently stands, there will be significant changes that directly impact students. Without a significant increase to funding, HCPS will see higher class sizes, athletic participation fees will no longer be waived and teacher salaries will no longer be competitive with neighboring districts. As it stands now, the budget will make it near impossible for HCPS to continue to attract the best recruits possible to work in our schools and to continue to support the outstanding educators already working for our students," the district stated.

The school district described Cassilly's proposed budget as a way to "focus his ire on the public school system" and "stir political conflict." School leaders say he's making false claims including that he is fully funding HCPS as required by state law.

"Mr. Cassilly is misleading the public by stating he is 'fully funding' our schools. While he is technically meeting state law, he is only doing so by utilizing a one-time reduction of maintenance of effort. In reality, he is providing the minimum amount allowed by law with a $19.4 million reduction compared to last year," the district said in a statement.