How much authority should the Worcester County Commissioners have over the specifics of the Worcester County Board of Education budget?
It was discussed at length at two meetings on Tuesday. First, in the morning education administrators reviewed the school system’s $131 million budget (80% from county funds) before the Worcester County Commissioners. The Board of Education approved the budget and the spending plan was before the commissioners for their review before required adoption next month. After the needs were expressed, the commissioners reiterated a reported request for more specific budget documents.
“We’re asking for more help to better understand where the budget’s going,” Commission President Chip Bertino said. “The mosquito control has a budget of $178,000 and I think a case could be made that there’s more clarity in that budget, to be able to better understand where the money’s going, than what we’re getting from the board of education.”
In response, Superintendent Lou Taylor said he answers first to the Worcester County Board of Education, which votes on the budget and oversees school system spending. Taylor agreed it was smart to be transparent with public funding but reminded the commissioners he needed to discuss with his school board the request. He said his goal is to represent the needs of his teachers, students and families. He also asked the commissioners how he can explain potential school system budget cuts when the county has sufficient funding in stabilization and other accounts to more than cover the $11 million deficit referred to multiple times during the meeting.
“I need your help when I have teachers looking at fund balances, looking at all the things, how I can answer them when I say to them the commissioners don’t have any money,” Taylor said. “I need your help there to help me with 1,100 employees to explain that side of it.”
“The mosquito control has a budget of $178,000“? I recommend when the kids get home from school that they don’t go out to play unless they have some type of mosquito control.
Board if Ed is being shifty as always. One year no raise for staff, and teachers was county approved, so they pulled the money from the Board of Ed reserves and gave themselves a raise. All other county employees got NOTHING. They will get theirs, hook or crook.
The county commissioners should be able to have a say in the boe spending. Look at all of the supervisors and carry home cars that the boe have. They could make a lot of cuts but don’t want to. The teachers could get a pay raise if they would train some of the supervisors that they have that do nothing. And by the way, some of the take home cars have regular tags on them, not gov’t tags