Teachers, students tell St. Mary's County leaders to fund schools and support libraries

Mackenzie Windsor, a second-year teacher at Evergreen Elementary School and a resident of Mechanicsville, urged St. Mary's County officials during the meeting's public-comment period to follow through on prior budget promises and increase support for schools.

Windsor said she loves her students and school but described the personal and professional burdens many teachers shoulder, including extra lesson planning, addressing student behavior, and buying classroom supplies. "As a young teacher, I was ecstatic at last year's budget meeting and hearing the promises that were made. And now I'm frustrated," she said. Windsor added, "I have the Sunday scaries" and asked the county to "Fund our teachers and our school, please."

The comments framed teacher pay and school funding as central to student outcomes; Windsor said teachers she named personally had "an everlasting impact" on her. She called classroom work an investment in students' futures and said funding should ensure that "all students are representative and have the brightest futures that they can possibly have." Windsor gave her home address during remarks as part of her introduction.

A student who identified herself only as Izzy spoke after Windsor and pushed back on a circulating claim about school facilities at Leonardtown High School. "There is no million dollar toilet in Leonardtown High School," she said, and described a recent short-term episode of brown tap water she said was caused by sediment in water tanks. She also credited teachers and building service staff for their work during the incident.

Izzy highlighted classroom and extracurricular supports, saying her Chinese teacher provided substantial unpaid time and used personal funds to supply authentic cultural experiences. She said that helped her earn an official Seal of Biliteracy in Chinese. She also urged continued support for the public library, noting it provides free learning resources such as Mango, a language-learning service accessible with a library card. "The public library is kind of one of the best places to do that," she said, and pointed to community programming as a response to what she called a national ‘‘loneliness epidemic.’’

Both speakers identified staffing groups affected by funding decisions, including teachers, paraeducators and building service workers, and framed funding as necessary to maintain programs and equitable access to services. No formal county action or vote on school funding occurred during the public-comment period; next steps or specific budget changes were not stated at the meeting.