Carroll County's Education Opportunity Fund Inches Closer to Implementation

The families of non-public school students in Carroll County are a little closer to getting reimbursed for certain education expenses.
The Board of Carroll County Commissioners, after hearing from the organization that will manage the Education Opportunity Fund, voted unanimously in open session Thursday to move forward with the implementation of the fund. 

Audrey Cimino, director of the Community Foundation of Carroll County, worked with a commissioner-appointed advisory council to determine how the Education Opportunity Fund will be administered, including application and reimbursement criteria. Cimino shared the committee's decisions with the board of commissioners Thursday. 

During budget sessions in the spring, the Board of County Commissioners created the Education Opportunity Fund to help assist the families of non-public school students with education costs. The Board budgeted $400,000 for the Education Opportunity Fund for fiscal year 2014.

In July, the Board appointed an advisory committee to help determine how the fund would be implemented and managed.

Cimino explained that the fund will be used to reimburse expenses for K-12 students in Carroll County attending private schools, parochial schools or being home schooled -- for items that public school children get without their families having to "reach into their pockets." 

Cimino said that there was a lot of scrutiny about the fund covering items like musical instruments because families of public school students have to pay for instruments. 

"We're not buying trumpets, tubas or clarinets," Cimino said.

The fund will be used to pay for items that public school students get as part of their education, like access to music, physical education and art programs, as well as resources needed for science and technology education, Cimino said.

So, Cimino clarified, the fund will not pay for the instruments, but it can pay for music instruction.

There will be some necessary discretion, Cimino said, from the committee approving the expenses as requests will have to be prioritized in terms of need. For example, she said, textbooks might be reimbursed before a trip would be.

The next step, according to Cimino, is for the Community Foundation to create a committee that will oversee the approval and distribution of the funds. She said the committee will initially be comprised of five people including a homeschool parent, a parochial school parent, a private school parent, the business community and a Community Foundation staff person.

In previous Board sessions, Commissioner Doug Howard voted in favor of the fund but advocated to budget less than $400,000 for it.

"It's no great secret that I’m a strong advocate for education and I do believe that our education system includes not only public schools, the libraries, and the Community College, but also private, parochial and home schooled children," Howard said Thursday. "My real consternation with this was that the dollar amount got ahead of us and we approved something without all the details."  

Howard added that the money for this fund has nothing to do with the public school budget.

"Our budget for public schools was set before this came up," Howard said. "This money does not come out of the public school budget and it's not an expression of concern about or indictment of the public school system ...  parents ultimately need to make the decision on the best way to educate their children."

"We should be committed to helping all students," Howard said. 

Commissioner Richard Rothschild pointed out that the money for the Education Opportunity Fund came out of a prior year surplus, some of which also went to the public school budget.  He added that the fund will help make Carroll County more attractive to business and industry. 

"I think a good education system is a good draw for industry and now we have something to add to that portfolio," Rothschild said. "We have something for private, parochial and home school children and that differentiates us when we bring business and industry to the county."  

Cimino said that if the program is done right, it could be a model for other jurisdictions who want to implement similar programs. 

"This could be picked up and put in other places," Cimino said. "Other eyes are watching, not just in Carroll County." 

County representative Robert Windham said that the county has to sign the contract with the Community Foundation and transfer the money to the Foundation. She said the county and the Community Foundation will put out a joint release when the program is ready to start accepting applications, likely in mid-December.