by Cal Wilson ’14

On May 21, The Montgomery County Board of Education agreed on a new $2.086 billion dollar budget for 2012 fiscal year. With this new budget the County saves 168 of the 318 staffing positions that planned to be cut in the original budget. Sherwood regains 0.8 staffing that they were originally going to lose.

These positions will be used to create an additional English 9 section, Honors English 9 section, honors English 12 section and a math class that is yet to be determined. “I choose courses over enrolled that have High School Assessments,” said Principal Bill Gregory. The class sizes at Sherwood with the original cuts would have been 30 students per class, but with the .8 staffing increase the class sizes will drop down to 27, one below the class maximum.

The 150 cut positions in MCPS are non-academic positions that include 51 staff teaching development, 34 media assistants, 34 office positions, 28 lunch aides, 20 reserve teacher positions, 6 special education teachers and 9 academic intervention aides. The cuts amount to $17 million in savings, or .8 percent of the total budget.

Although the cuts will not increase class sizes by much, the time students receive one on one help will shrink dramatically because class aides and media assistants will be absent to provide students with assistance.  “This lack of available support may erode the progress made toward improving teacher practice and increasing student learning and achievement,” wrote Superintendent Jerry Weast in a memo to the BOE.

Along with the laying off of multiple MCPS employees, the Board of Education is planning on reducing the funds of high school athletics by $750,000, materials and equipment by $75,000, salaries and substitutions by $365,641 and the contributions to the Retiree Health Benefit Trust Fund and employee benefits by $2,960,833.

“These reductions will reduce the amount of instructional materials and equipment these schools can purchase and the amount of part-time salaries and contractual services for training and school improvement planning,” wrote Weast.