Commissioners Designate $400,000 for Non-Public School Education Reimbursements

In an open session budget discussion Thursday, the Board of Carroll County Commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of using $400,000 to help pay for financial needs of homeschooled and private schooled children.

Commissioner Richard Rothschild first suggested funding the "Education Opportunity Fund" at $900,000 but "in the spirit of trying to get unanimity of the board" later amended the amount to $400,000. 

The suggestion came as the commissioners were brainstorming ways to spend $10 million in one time money available in FY2014. 

Other suggestions for the one-time money, to be discussed further next week, include funding technology needs for schools and libraries, paying down debt service, tax relief, and a performance audit among other ideas.

The board of commissioners recently voted 3-2 to fund Carroll County Public Schools (CCPS) at $163.5 million, with an additional $500,000 coming from the Board of Education's fund balance to total $164 million. This is $3.1 million less than the $166.6 million requested by the Board of Education for FY2014.

Rothschild said that the fund "would provide for an opportunity to enrich and provide more robust opportunities for children that are not in the public [school] system." 

He said the funds would not pay for tuition but would pay for "things such as participation in sporting events, making it more feasible to get involved with music lessions, art, uniforms, field trips." 

Commissioner Doug Howard said he was concerned about public school families that also have to pay for instruments and field trips and he is additionally concerend about how the program will be administered.

"I don't know why I'm at a disadvantage if I chose to go to public schools," Howard said. 

Commissioner Dave Roush said families choose to send their children to non-public schools for a variety of reasons including to get a "values-based education or a more religious-based education" than they can get in public schools.

"I see it as an experiment that I'd be willing to try but I think we need to [fund it] at some kind of level where it's not overfunded but not underfunded," Roush said. 

Commissioner Doug Howard voted against the motion. 

The proposed county budget is $486,447,131 million, a 0.87 percent increase over the current budget.

See Also:

• Guide: Public School Funding FY14
• Citizens Demand Full Funding of Education Budget at Commissioner's Forum
• Commissioner Rothschild Suggests 'Thinking Outside the Box' to Fund Education
• Poll: At What Level Should Carroll County Fund Education in FY14?