Montgomery County Proposed Budget for 2011 Concern?

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01/20/2010 10:08

Subject: Montgomery County Proposed Budget for 2011 Concern?

Anonymous

Is anyone concerned about the cuts that are being proposed for the budget? Is there anything parents can do?

SUMMARY OF POTENTIAL BUDGET REDUCTIONS
In the event that Montgomery County Public Schools does not receive local funding for the
Fiscal Year 2011 Operating Budget at the minimum Maintenance of Effort (MOE) level, it will be
necessary to consider significant service reductions in the base budget. The amount of reductions
will depend on how much local funding is actually received compared to the amount required by
the Maintenance of Effort. The following list contains potential major reductions in the budget.
The list is not in any priority order, but will give stakeholders an overall idea of what reductions
may be necessary to consider before the FY 2011 Operating Budget is approved in June 2010.
Description FTE Savings
SYSTEMWIDE REDUCTIONS
A Class size – Increase class size by an average of 1 student per
class at each school level. This would reduce staffing by 240
classroom teacher positions.
240.0 $15,442,455
B Academic intervention teachers – Reduce by 20 percent
additional teacher staffing for direct support to struggling
students and for intervention programs. Currently, there are
128.9 academic intervention teachers. (Reduced by 9.8 positions
in FY 2010)
24.0 $1,662,397
C Special program teachers – Reduce by 20 percent additional
positions allocated to support special programs, including
immersion, magnet, IB, signature, and other special programs.
Currently, there are 64.6 special program teachers. (Reduced by
16.9 positions in FY 2010)
12.9 $832,487
D Staff development substitutes – Reduce by 20 percent
availability of substitutes for job-embedded staff development
activities in schools.
$290,000
E Counselors, psychologists, and pupil personnel workers –
Reduce previous increase of 18.0 FTE in counselors,
psychologists, and pupil personnel workers. This would increase
the ratio of students to professionals for each of these positions.
18.0 $2,329,642
Item Description FTE Savings
2
F Maintenance positions – Reduce 6.0 positions in the Division of
Maintenance.
6.0 $480,000
G Building service worker positions – Reduce 30.0 building
service worker positions in schools and administrative offices.
30.0 $1,200,000
H Transportation for optional regular education programs -
Eliminate transportation to optional regular education programs
outside normal attendance zones, including magnet, immersion,
IB, high school consortia, and other special programs. Fees are
not permitted for these services. This reduction would not
impact special education transportation.
65.0 $4,900,000
I Bus Fuel – Purchase regular diesel fuel rather than biodiesel fuel
for school buses.
$400,000
J Bus Replacement – Obtain a waiver to continue use of 23 older
school buses.
$250,000
K Central office administrative expenditures – Reduce 30.0 central
office administrative positions. Reduce non-position central
office expenditures (4 percent of total central office), including
temporary part-time salaries, supplies, and other expenditures.
(Over last two years, central office cuts have totaled $17
million—a 13 percent reduction in these expenditures.)
30.0 $6,000,000
L Purchase fewer textbooks and instructional materials by
eliminating the budgeted 6 percent inflationary increase in this
category.
$1,650,000
ELEMENTARY REDUCTIONS
M Focus teachers – Reduce by 20 percent additional staffing for
elementary schools that have above average levels of poverty.
Currently, there are 47.1 focus teacher positions.
9.4 $605,680
N Reading initiative teachers – Eliminate 8.0 reading initiative
teachers by increasing class size to 19 students. Current class
size for reading in grades 1 and 2 in non-focus schools is 17.
Currently, there are 75.7 elementary school reading initiative
teachers.
8.0 $513,437
Item Description FTE Savings
3
O Staff development and reading teachers – In the past, all
elementary schools received a 1.0 staff development teacher and
a 1.0 reading specialist. In FY 2010, the allocation for the
smallest schools was reduced by a total of .5, giving schools a
choice of which position to reduce. It may be necessary to make
further cuts in the smallest schools.
5.0 $322,170
P Media assistants – Reduce 40 media assistant positions in
elementary schools. Currently, there are 192.5 media assistants
and this reduction would require changing staff ratios K-12.
(Reduced by 5.0 in FY 2010)
40.0 $2,311,360
Q Elementary school regular education paraeducators – Reduce by
10 percent regular education paraeducators that provide
instructional support to elementary classroom teachers.
Currently, there are 271.25 regular education paraeducators.
27.1 $1,011,562
R Elementary school activity buses and extracurricular activity
stipends – Reduce activity bus availability or extracurricular
activity stipends. A total of $1.1 million is budgeted for these
expenditures.
$600,000
SECONDARY REDUCTIONS
S Middle School Magnet Consortium – Reduce 8.0 additional
teacher positions that allow for an eight-period day with
specialized course offerings in the three middle schools in the
magnet consortium. (Argyle, Loiederman, Parkland).
8.0 $515,472
T Secondary School Extracurricular activities - Reduce stipends
and other expenses that support extracurricular activities,
including athletics, at the secondary level. This could result in
added extracurricular fees to offset budget reductions.
$1,000,000
U Staff development teachers – Reduce 10.6 staff development
teacher positions. Staff development teachers in middle and
high schools would teach one class period daily instead of
devoting the entire day to staff development activities.
10.6 $682,000
Total 534.0 $42,998,662