348 Howard schools staff positions to be cut in 'budget full of difficult decisions,' superintendent says

Jan. 12—By Molly Fellin Spence — mspence@baltsun.com

PUBLISHED:January 12, 2024 at 12:16 p.m.| UPDATED:January 16, 2024 at 10:59 a.m.

Giving a preview of a "budget full of difficult decisions" Thursday night, acting Howard County Public School System Superintendent Bill Barnes announced that 348 total positions would be eliminated to address "structural financial challenges" in balancing the system's 2025 operating budget.

Eliminating positions is necessary, Barnes said, because HCPSS is looking at a $103 million budget gap, made up of a $32.1 million revenue decrease paired with $71.7 million in mandated and priority expenditures.

To overcome the gap, Barnes proposed using all of the remaining $10.2 million in the school system's reserves and also asking the county government to provide $47 million above its mandated "maintenance of effort," funding. Even if the county executive and County Council agree to that number, that leaves the school system with a $46.6 million deficit.

Since "a significant portion of our budget is staff, we cannot address the structural financial challenges without impacting staff," Barnes said.

Barnes did not indicate whether the cut would include teachers or how many of the positions being eliminated are not currently filled.

"Occupied positions will be impacted," he said, adding that staff whose jobs would be eliminated would be told starting Friday and through Jan. 18.

Barnes, on his second official day on the job, since the mid-contract retirement of Michael Martirano, said "I can't imagine anyone would choose to step forward and have this on their plate, but knowing this board, knowing the team I work with, I have confidence we can move through this process with dignity, compassion and respect."

Barnes was scheduled to introduce the entire proposed $1.13 billion operating budget for next fiscal year on Thursday night, but he said the "significant challenge" of this year's budget process caused him and his staff to step back and announce a "markedly different" strategy that will be very different from past years' budget cycles.

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Barnes said he is focusing on balancing the budget from the beginning instead of offering up an "aspirational" budget first and waiting for the board to make needed cuts at the end of the budget cycle in May. He said that the previous strategy resulted in an "emotionally charged process at the end," and undesirable decisions such as using one-time funds to pay for recurring costs.

The challenges Howard's school system is facing are similar to ones others in the state are dealing with, the acting superintendent said, and stem from the following factors:

— $9 million needed to meet state mandates in the Blueprint for Maryland's Future legislation.

— Increased student transportation costs, which have been on the rise post-pandemic, Barnes said.

— Special education expansion, which Barnes said are "legally mandated, but also deserved" services that are increasingly complex particularly post-pandemic.

— Increased employee compensation and health care costs. Barnes said health insurance costs alone are estimated to increase by 13.6%.

Barnes said he would present his entire proposed fiscal 2025 budget, with full details, at 1 p.m. Thursday. One week later, on Jan. 25, the school system will host the first public hearing on the budget. On Jan. 29, the school board will hold its first work session on the budget.

School board member Jacky McCoy thanked Barnes, saying she appreciated "the thoughtfulness in how we are approaching the budget this year," adding that she believes the school board should not have to worry about funding things like health care and transportation and should instead "spend our energy and time on education."

The school system is scheduled to adopt the budget Feb. 29 and forward it to the county. In April the county executive will submit his proposed fiscal 2025 budget to the County Council and in May the BOE and council will host additional work sessions. The final budgets will be adopted at the end of May.

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