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Board of Education seeks restored positions and flexibility on OPEB as commissioners weigh steps and fund balance use
Summary
The Board of Education presented its FY2016 budget request, including restoring instructional resource positions, seeking flexibility on a $2 million OPEB contribution, and signaling that one or two step increases for teachers remains a key negotiation point in public hearings.
A representative for the St. Mary’s County Board of Education described the FY2016 request and explained how instructional resource teachers (IRTs) were handled in the supplemental budget materials, and asked commissioners for flexibility on a $2 million OPEB (Other Post-Employment Benefits) contribution.
The Board of Education representative said last year’s materials consolidated instructional resource teachers into the general teacher line; for clarity the FY2016 packet breaks those positions back out so the board and the public can see the numbers for IRTs and classroom teachers separately. The representative said that while 28 IRT positions existed in FY2014 and none were listed in FY2015 due to cuts, the FY2016 request shows 23 positions to be reintroduced in the recommended budget.
On OPEB, the board noted that $2,000,000 had previously been identified as a fund-balance item and the transcript records a directive to remove that $2,000,000 from the recommended fund-balance draw for the school system while revenues are adjusted first. The Board of Education representative said that removing the recurring OPEB allocation would give the district more flexibility to negotiate with associations and to open a new elementary school with required staffing.
Commissioners and the Board’s representatives discussed teacher step increases. The board’s representative said their original request totaled roughly $7.1 million more than last year and that the ability to offer up to two steps to teachers would depend on budget reconciliation and potential one-time funds. Commissioners signaled they could support one step going forward into the public hearing and that the second step could be considered later depending on public-hearing outcomes and further reconciliation.
The transcript shows ongoing negotiation and information exchange; commissioners asked the board to provide supplemental material before the public hearing so both sides could refine options and present tradeoffs during the public process.
