Carroll schools will cut computer replacements to balance 2025 budget, McCabe says

After the Carroll County Board of Education unanimously approved its fiscal 2025 operating budget on Wednesday, board President Marsha Herbert thanked county commissioners for providing schools with $6 million more than the county is required to give.

The school system had asked the county for $10.8 million above the amount the county is required to provide to schools, but only received $6 million, leaving a deficit of about $4.8 million, Superintendent Cynthia McCabe told the school board. In order to bridge that gap, McCabe said some “smaller reductions” were made in the school system’s budget.

“We] deferred technology costs for computer replacements until a future budget cycle,” McCable said. “Generally, we did not buy replacement laptops at the elementary level.”

McCabe added that the school system will use federal coronavirus Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, which must be used by this fall, to purchase some student devices.

ESSER funding totaling more than $3 billion was provided to Maryland schools with the intention of defraying pandemic-related expenses. Carroll has thus far spent a majority of its ESSER funds on textbooks and supplies, according to the Maryland State Department of Education.

The bulk of the county’s operating budget (42.06%) goes to public schools. In fiscal 2025, the school system is slated to receive a total of $13 million more than the current budget. The school system received $238,651,000 in county contributions this year and is slated to get $253,130,930 in fiscal 2025, according to budget documents.

Herbert thanked the county commissioners for increasing the school system’s allocation despite a tough budget year.

“This has allowed Carroll County Public Schools to be one of the first school systems in the state to ratify [collective bargaining] agreements with all five of our employee units,” Herbert said. “In addition we are able to find our career ladder, which will help us to be more competitive and attract more applicants to our school system.”

Under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future legislation, career ladders provide teachers with opportunities for advancement within their role as teachers and to earn additional compensation, according to the state’s website. So, while teachers can earn advanced degrees or national board certification, they can do so while remaining in their classrooms and working with students who need the most support.  As teachers move up the career ladder, their salary can increase between $5,000 and $15,000 for each level, the state says.

Carroll County intends to implement a career ladder in fiscal 2025 for teachers that features a $60,000 salary minimum. The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future requires that salary minimum to be in place by fiscal 2027, and Herbert said implementing the measure early addresses school system staffing problems and will attract more and better-qualified teaching candidates to Carroll.

The largest increase in the budget compared to the current year’s budget is $19.2 million for boosting employee salaries. The fiscal 2025 budget also includes an increase of $6.9 million in inflationary impacts, $4.6 million for technology, $2 million for special education, $700,000 in state Blueprint requirements and $400,000 for transportation.

The Board of Carroll County Commissioners’ budget is slated to be adopted on May 21. Commissioners are planning to impose a 2-cent property tax increase as well as raise the county’s housing recordation rate in order to balance the county’s fiscal 2025 budget. The tax increases will begin July 1.

The school board also unanimously approved a food service fund budget, debt service fund budget and capital improvement fund budget for fiscal 2025. The action items each passed 4-0. Board of Education Vice President Tara Battaglia was not in attendance during the votes.

School board meetings are open to the public and livestreamed on the Carroll County Public Schools YouTube channel and viewable on the right side of the Board of Education’s website at carrollk12.org/board-of-education/meeting-information, under CETV Livestream. Meetings also are broadcast throughout the month on Carroll Educational Television, Channel 21.

Anyone who wishes to participate during the public participation portion of school board meetings must fill out an online sign-up form at https://www.carrollk12.org/board-of-education/meeting-information or call the communications office at 410-751-3020 by 9 p.m., on the Tuesday before a meeting.