Superintendent Guthrie: 'With Fourth Year in a Row of Budget Cuts, We have to Look at Staffing'

Carroll County School Superintendent Steve Guthrie sat flanked by members of the Board of Education Wednesday night as he presented his fiscal year 2012 proposed budget to a packed room.

Before presenting his data, Guthrie said, “This is our fourth year in a row of declining revenue, our fourth year in a row of cuts. We do not have the revenue to support the size of this organization (Carroll County Public School system). Everyone agrees that we have to reduce the budget, the disagreement comes when we have to look at when and where to reduce.”

In addition to an expected $3 million school system budget shortfall, Guthrie anticipates even larger cuts in state funding. He said there is talk at the state level of a 5 percent cut across the board in education, which would translate to $250 million statewide and approximately $6.6 million to Carroll County. On top of that, Guthrie explained that declining enrollment in Carroll County public schools and inflation will account for another $5.6 million.

 So what are the proposed cuts?

Director of Administrative Services Chris Hartlove said in a presentation at the Board of Education meeting that the estimated $325,519,525 budget proposal for fiscal year 2012 includes reducing general spending by $984,000. That breaks down to a $56,000 reduction in contracted services, $48,000 reduction in supplies and equipment and an $880,000 reduction in hiring turnover.

Additionally, staffing adjustments will save another $812,000. The current budget proposal eliminates four central office administrators, four plant operations positions and two positions that are currently vacant -- a kindergarten teacher and a bus driver, Hartlove said.

“The problem I face with it being the fourth year of budget cuts is that I have to look at staffing as it is 85 percent of the budget,” Guthrie said.

According to the budget proposal, the Board of Education has reduced the budget by $12.5 million in the past three years by eliminating 70 positions and  cutting programs like the after school community learning centers.

Hartlove said that 95 percent of the budget is spent in the schools, only 5 percent of the budget is spent on central administration. As a result he said, “to address the problem, the solution will have to come from the schools.”

Guthrie said he had three primary objectives as he worked on the budget: preserve the integrity of the instructional programs (maintain class sizes), preserve employee benefits and salaries, and eliminate structural deficit by reducing system size.

Guthrie explained that the next phase of the budgeting process is to get feedback from the community on these suggested cuts. A dozen media clerks and library specialists were on hand at the beginning of the meeting to express to the Board how important library staff is to the functioning of a school.

“This is exactly what we need now, this is an important part of the process. Tonight we saw an example of articulate and clear feedback,” Guthrie said.

Public hearings are scheduled for Jan. 26 and Feb. 8. On Feb. 23 the Board of Education will adopt a preliminary budget and in early April the budget will be presented to the Carroll County Board of Commissioners. In May there will be a public budget hearing and then the Board of Education will approve the budget.