by Adam Kopp ’11

On January 28, Superintendent Jerry Weast released a list of 27 proposed budget reductions that would save the school system $48 million for the Fiscal Year 2012 (FY12). The proposal, which warns of “significant service reductions,” would warrant strong consideration should MCPS fail to receive adequate local funding, totaling $82 million, from the Montgomery County Council. 

The greatest cost-saving initiative is to increase class sizes by one student. This would lead to the elimination of 193.4 teaching positions with savings of over $12 million. Last year’s budget cut 240 teaching positions by increasing class sizes by the same number. Other staff positions facing cuts include Academic Intervention teachers, Staff Development teachers, Instrumental Music teachers, counselors, Media Assistants, Assistant School Administrators, Security Administrators and ESOL counselors among others. Last year, Sherwood lost approximately 14 staff members.

Staffing for individual schools within MCPS is based on enrollment projections. Sherwood currently has 2,114 students, 100 more than were predicted. Next year, Sherwood’s enrollment is projected to plummet to 1,970, which Principal Bill Gregory is lobbying to have recalculated. The new projection would further diminish the resources allocated to Sherwood, especially due to the fact that certain amenities are reserved for schools which exceed 2,000 students.

“There’s not one staff member here that I want to involuntarily transfer, and I hope that I don’t have to,” said Gregory. “It’s one of the reasons I’ve really looked at the numbers. I’ve talked to several different people about the class sizes right now and the enrollment here now and the impact it can have on next year.”

With losses in funding and staffing, MCPS students will also be asked to do without many programs that have been commonplace in previous years. For instance, activity buses, which bring students home from after-school activities, could be done away with. As for educational opportunities at Sherwood, it may become unfeasible to offer smaller support classes. Gregory, however, has expressed a commitment to maintaining electives that enough students sign up for, even if administrators must assume roles now assigned to teachers.

To recoup the portion of the $82 million not covered by Weast’s proposed reductions, MCPS would be forced to eliminate yearly “step increases” in pay for staff members and to delay their retiree benefits. The pay freezes follow two years of the teachers’ union agreeing to its members forgoing cost of living adjustments. In addition, the County Council has expressed its support for furlough days in which the school year for teachers will be truncated to reduce their salaries.

While many teachers have banded together by attending a voluntary meeting and the County Council’s Community Forum, the continual strain on their income has led to a lowering of morale. English teacher Gloria Condelli, who organized a meeting of Sherwood teachers last week, remarked, “This is huge. It’s impacted us all. For some of the more experienced teachers, it may mean going to neighboring jurisdictions that aren’t facing the same kind of restraints. There is a real potential for this to impact the schools.”

MCPS’s budget, which has grown by 75 percent in the past decade, is in the middle of a back-and-forth between the BOE and the County Council. By April 19, the County Council will have to take action on the budget, with BOE finalization on June 16.

The duration of this process means that school principals won’t find out what cuts they need to make until the end of this school year. At last year’s conclusion, some Sherwood students and parents voiced their outrage at the removal of popular teachers. The process, however, yields little to opinion since staffing cuts are based generally on teacher seniority and what classes students sign up to take.