Montgomery County school officials say they won’t make nearly $20 million in midyear cuts proposed by County Executive Ike Leggett to offset a looming budget gap, setting up another clash between the two agencies over disappearing local dollars. “It is not possible to make midyear savings of the magnitude made in previous years,” said Montgomery school board President Christopher Barclay in a letter to Leggett, obtained by The Washington Examiner. “Higher-than-anticipated enrollment for the 2010-2011 school year of approximately 800 students will make it more difficult.”
Pointing to a more than $300 million shortfall next fiscal year, Leggett asked all departments to immediately make 1 percent cuts to their budgets — and each generally complied with the request in a $32 million savings plan recently finalized by the County Council.
However, Superintendent Jerry Weast has identified just $10 million in savings to be achieved this fiscal year through a hiring freeze. Barclay referenced a $4.4 million federal grant, but that is not a permanent savings option.
The rebuff caught some County Council members ?– who are responsible for funding the schools — by surprise amid talks of cooperation that preceded the letter from the school board.
“We’re going to hold firm on $19 million,” said County Council President Valerie Ervin. “Everybody else made the same type of cuts with a whole lot less money.”
In early meetings, officials on both sides said they hoped to avoid the finger-pointing that came to a head last year when Weast threatened to sue the county over cuts to the schools budget.
“I think that for all that gets said publicly, everyone knows there is no money,” said Councilman Marc Elrich, D-at large. “At the end of the day, they are going to have to come up with it. I’m sure they don’t want to make it look easy to find that money. They don’t want to set a precedent.”
The two branches are even further from an agreement over the budget for next fiscal year, which will be hammered out in coming months.
With federal stimulus money evaporating, school officials say they need an $82 million increase from the county to meet state-mandated requirements for next fiscal year. The proposal includes an additional $15 million for raises. Salaries were frozen this year for Montgomery’s non-school workers, who also have been furloughed.
