The St. Mary’s County Board of Education has finalized its Fiscal Year 2014 budget. The $189 million budget does not include the 10 elementary school safety assistants that were in the preliminary budget.
The budget reflects an additional $244,121 in state funding. The county commissioners had left it up to the school board as to how they would spend that additional revenue, including the possible use for the school safety personnel. But that extra revenue was needed, according to School Superintendent Dr. Michael Martirano, to fully fund the negotiated agreements with two of the three bargaining units (the third agreement with administrators is near completion). That had been his and the school board’s first budget priority.
Dr. Martirano urged the county commissioners to fund the two additional School Resource Officers in the sheriff’s budget to bring the middle schools up to a full complement. He said he would continue to advance the idea of the elementary school security assistants with the county commissioners in hopes of getting funding, if not in FY’ 14, then in the next year. The security assistants would be school employees and not sworn police officers. Regarding security, he said, “We never let up on it.”
In order to achieve the balanced budget, the school board had to cut almost $3 million from what was presented to the commissioners. That was done by removing most of the proposed new positions, with the exception of three positions at Chesapeake Charter School and a Food & Nutrition Services manager.
The superintendent said most accounts were reduced to current fiscal year levels or below and Chesapeake Charter School funding was reduced based on their funding formula.
Even with the cuts Martirano and the school board members praised the commissioners for their commitment to education funding. The superintendent noted that the county funded four percent more than the Maintenance of Effort (level funding) while half of the state’s school districts are proposing funding at Maintenance of Effort. The county appropriation was $3.2 million more than the current year. “This is a very positive year for us as a county,” he said. He added, “We continue to use our dollars very judiciously, very pr3ecisely.”
Martirano called the budget process this yea “absolutely the model of collaboration.” He especially included in that assessment the quick response by the commissioners in the aftermath of the Spring Ridge Middle School fire. The commissioners advanced $10 million for the renovation in their capital budget and $250,000 to start engineering and design in this fiscal year.
“I am grateful that the community recognizes education and the support that it has in that commitment,” board member Cathy Allen s
