Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Funding topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board discusses pension shift, Board of Education needs and library hours in FY2013 review
Summary
Commissioners reviewed the Board of Education funding outlook, including a pension-shift contingency and enrollment-driven staffing needs, and removed Sunday library hours from the FY2013 request; they also deferred a College of Southern Maryland nonprofit-center request.
St. Mary''s County commissioners on March 13 discussed funding pressures facing the Board of Education and local library system as part of the FY2013 work session, focusing on a potential teacher-pension shift and enrollment-driven needs.
Why it matters: a state-level change in teacher-pension funding was identified as a major driver for the Board of Education's FY2013 request. Commissioners said the board should be treated defensively in the public-hearing draft to ensure the county can respond if the state pension shift materializes.
Board of Education and related items presented: - Finance staff showed a conservative ("worst-case") placeholder for the teacher-pension shift of about $4.1 million that the county included in the draft to guard against state decisions that would move pension costs locally. - Commissioners discussed additional Board of Education needs, including enrollment growth and state-mandated positions (examples cited: Title I mandates, ROTC coverage and two enrollment-driven teachers). Staff estimates presented an additional prioritization pool in the range of roughly $3.5 million for those items; combined with the pension placeholder, the total potential Board of Education need discussed approached $7.6 million.
Library and CSM items: - The commissioners directed removal of Sunday library hours from the FY2013 request (a reduction of $53,060 reported in the packet). - A $40,000 request for a College of Southern Maryland (CSM) nonprofit center was not being entertained by the neighboring Charles County administrator at this time; commissioners directed removal of that $40,000 from the FY2013 packet.
Process and next steps: commissioners asked staff to present pension-shift scenarios and to treat the $4.1 million as a conservative placeholder pending state action; they also asked for prioritized lists from the Board of Education for the additional funding categories.
Ending: Staff will reflect the pension-shift placeholder and the directed library/CSM removals in the public-hearing draft and will work with the Board of Education to prioritize additional funding needs.
