Tentative WCPS budget approval waylaid by tie vote
Reverberations of a public school system embezzlement scandal spilled into budget deliberations Tuesday, leaving the Worcester County Commissioners deadlocked on a vote to approve fiscal year 2027 funding for the board of education.
That stalemate means the commissioners will have to come back at their next budget hearing on May 19 to decide on a funding level for the schools, ahead of a scheduled June 2 budget adoption.
Some commissioners on Tuesday said they support proposed teacher raises but could not back full funding until an outside forensic audit restores their confidence in the school system’s financial oversight.
Others said teachers, students, and staff should not be penalized for a problem they had nothing to do with and supported fully funding the education budget.
“Until we get the findings of a clean bill of health from a forensic audit, I’m not interested in investing taxpayer money into the school system,” said Commissioner Chip Bertino. “We don’t know what we don’t know.”
Commissioner Joe Mitrecic opened the debate with a motion to fully fund the education budget as requested, which he noted has never occurred during his 12 years in office.
He ended up being critical of his colleagues for holding up funding approval with demands for another outside forensic audit, and suggested politics may be shaping the debate.
“Must be an election year,” he quipped.
Guess what Mr. Bertino, unfortunately there is still a lot you don’t know. Lots of stuff going on that isn’t public knowledge yet. Probably won’t be……….