WASHINGTON — The Montgomery County Board of Education has wrapped up its work on the budget for the next fiscal year, and spokesman Dana Tofig says the $2.3 billion budget includes some pain — including the elimination of 380 positions.
Tofig says the cuts were needed to close what he called a $53 million shortfall.
Tofig explains the school board was feeling the impact of Governor Larry Hogan’s decision not to fully fund the Geographic Cost of Education Index, a state formula that provides additional money to districts such as Montgomery, Frederick and Prince George’s counties. That cost Montgomery County $17 million.
The tight budget is also a product of the decisions made by the Montgomery County Council, which votes on how much the schools receive but not how the school money can be spent.
Tofig explains the positions being eliminated include 40 jobs at the central offices and 340 school-based positions. The result, he says, will be slightly larger classes in some schools and the freeze of a program that’s designed to get more technology into the hands of students.
“We’ve been rolling out Chromebook laptops for all students to use,” he explained.
Tofig says in the year that just ended, students in grades 3, 5 and 6 and high school social studies classes were equipped with Chromebooks, and next year students in grades 2,4 and 7 and one high school subject were expected to get them.
But now, Tofig says, “we’re not going to do that next year. We’re not going to buy any new Chromebooks out of the operating budget.”
Tofig says some money from the capital budget could be used, “but it certainly won’t be enough to fully implement the initiative.”
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
