Schools

Board of Education Hears Comments on Budget, Discusses Programs, Snow Days

School faculty and community members showed up to ask Superintendent Guthrie to reconsider cuts to the proposed budget.

The Carroll County Board of Education met last night to discuss issues relevant to the proposed budget, making up snow days and other business matters. Here is a quick rundown of the meeting.

Citizens Comments to Board
A dozen or more school faculty and community members were on hand to support the several people who spoke to the board about the pending budget. Kindergarten assistant Sharon Fisher, media clerk Tammy Reichert and math teacher Lee Bartlett made the case that it would be detrimental to students and faculty if the proposed cutbacks in media positions come to fruition.

“It’s really not about the money, but the adverse effect those cuts would have on the students,” Fisher said.

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Also in attendance to address the board were several people asking for reconsideration of the proposal to cut the Substance Abuse Coordinator position currently held by Anna Bible.

Junction’s Olivia Myers, George Butler and Jean Louis of the NAACP, said that it would be a detriment to the County and its youth if this position were eliminated.

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“[Cutting this position] would be like taking three steps backwards. I’ve seen firsthand the effects drugs have on kids and families. The current drug picture [in Carroll County] is still not good,” Butler said.

After the meeting, Superintendent Steve Guthrie said that the Board is considering all the feedback it receives.

“At the end of the day, we have to cut $3 million so we have to weigh that in as well,” Guthrie said. 

Guthrie emphasized that in the proposed budget, the services provided by the current substance abuse coordinator would not be going away but that those responsibilities would be absorbed by other positions.

“That was originally a grant funded position and we have been carrying it locally for a couple years because the grant money dried up,” Guthrie said. “But the services will remain.”

Presentation of School Programs
Brendan Gallagher, a teacher at the Carroll County Career and Tech Center presented Project Lead the Way Biomedical Sciences. Gallagher explained that this program is on the cutting edge in terms of providing students with valuable and rigorous hands-on experience and education for the real world.  The program, still in its infancy, had 11 students finish last year; 16 are anticipated to complete the program this year and 37 are projected to finish in 2012.

East Middle School Principal Mary Swack and Vice Principal Chris Roemer shared the successes of the Behavioral and Educational Support Team (BEST) Program with the Board. The BEST Program, housed at East Middle School, serves middle school students in the County who require additional attention to help get them back on track in their education.

“This reinforces what public schools are all about. We are required to educate students with all levels of need. The success of this program is paramount to the success of the system,” Guthrie said after the presentation.

Snow Day Make Ups
The board discussed the many emails and comments it received from community members about making up school days for inclement weather.  After much discussion and explanation, the board voted to reinstate Feb. 22 and April 26 as school days for students. Feb. 22 was a working day for teachers and April 26 was an added vacation day in the spring. These two days will now be school days for students.

In addition, the board voted to make the last day of school officially June 16 so that should there be more inclement weather days. Superintendent Guthrie can request a waiver for those days from State Superintendent Nancy Grasmick.

In response to the suggestion that the Board add days on to the end of the school year, Guthrie said, “I can tell you that there will be a lot more educating going on in February and April than at the end of June.”

Documents from Board of Education meetings are available on the Carroll County Public School website.


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