Nearly 400 Jobs Eliminated in Montgomery Schools Budget

Montgomery County school leaders blamed Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan Tuesday for forcing them to make spending cuts to the next budget that includes eliminating more than 380 jobs.

The Montgomery County Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously approved a $2.32 billion operating budget for Fiscal Year 2016 that required cuts to close a $53 million shortfall. The board voted to trim more than 380 positions and reduce the budgets for the district’s technology initiative, professional development, textbooks, and other areas, reports Montgomery Community Media.

“This is not the budget we wanted, but it is the budget we have,” said Board President Patricia B. O’Neill. “Lagging revenue in the county and lower-than-expected funding from the state required us to make some difficult choices. While we tried to minimize the impact these reductions will have in the classroom, there is no doubt that the cuts will impact every school in our district.”

See Also: Nearly 400 Job Cuts Loom in Montgomery Schools

Earlier this month, Interim Superintendent Larry A. Bowers recommended that Montgomery County Public Schools eliminate hundreds of positions, delay further implementation of a districtwide technology initiative, and make other spending cuts to close the budget gap.

On May 21, the Montgomery County Council approved a $2.32 billion FY 2016 operating budget for MCPS. The council’s budget is more than $53 million lower than the Board of Education requested and is funded at the minimum level required by state law.

MCPS had begun preparing for the possibility of budget reductions, but the need for deeper cuts was solidified when Gov. Hogan decided not to fully fund public education next year, the district says.

Bowers said he expects the MCPS FY 2017 Operating Budget to be even more challenging. The FY 2016 budget was partially funded by one-time revenue sources that may not be available next year, including $33 million in budget savings realized through hiring and expenditure restrictions put in place last November.

For FY 2017, Bowers expects the MCPS Operating Budget to increase by nearly 5 percent due to enrollment growth of more than 2,000 students, inflationary increases, some modest enhancements, and increased salary and benefit costs.