WESTMINSTER, Md. — More than 90 Carroll County Public School employees remain in limbo, as the Board of Education gets set to meet again Wednesday afternoon.
Carroll County superintendent Cynthia McCabe previously proposed eliminating the positions and reassigning dozens of others staff members in order to comply with Maryland's costly education Blueprint.
Before approving the cuts, the County Board of Education is first seeking help from Carroll's Board of Commissioners.
On March 6 school leadership asked commissioners for $57 million in funding to make up for an anticipated budget shortfall in fiscal year 2026.
The money, they claim, would help save those jobs from being lost.
Some parents attending the meeting urged Commissioners to swiftly sign off on the funding, citing a $69.5 million surplus the County's currently sitting on.
The multi-million dollar request comes as Carroll County Schools attempt to fund 50 percent of the Blueprint, as mandated by the State.
To do that, it would cost around $44 million, which is more than three times the operating budget.
School leadership was already preparing to be in a $6.6 million financial hole, due in large part to increased utility costs and contractually obligated pay raises for teacher union members. The school system now offers new teachers a starting salary of $60,000, according to McCabe.
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A majority of the County's commissioners appeared hesitant in granting the school system's funding request.
One skeptic is Commissioner Kenneth A. Kiler, who himself is a former Board of Education President.
"If we plastered $40 million of one time money to pay you, that means we need to do it next year, and next year, and next year, so we can't afford that, that's fiscally irresponsible to use one time money for any of that," Kiler said.
Kiler was referencing the Blueprint's per pupil funding formula, which increases each year through 2033.
McCabe tried justifying the request, citing existing staffing shortages, that were created between 2009 and 2019, when 375 positions were cut totaling $40 million in savings.
Kiler pushed back, arguing those cuts were made prior to the Blueprint becoming state law.
McCabe then stressed how Carroll County ranks 24 out of 24 in Maryland for per pupil funding, when combining state and local money.
Broken down, Carroll County ranks 10th in providing local school funding, while receiving the seventh least amount of state money.
Kiler, in response, talked about 40 percent of the school board suggesting the extra funding is not needed, as opposed to the other 60 percent of members asking for more than what the County can afford.
"How much money do you throw at it," Kiler asked. "We ought to get a waiver based on 'yea we already did that yea our students are doing that," Kiler continued, before asking "what is Blueprint really helping Carroll County in?"
Commissioner Joseph Vigliotti later chimed in claiming "The goalposts are consistently being moved right? I would love to vote right now to give every cent of that $57 million to the schools, if we did spend that $57 million this year and the situation with the Blueprint didn't change next year, we're gonna be how much in debt, and it would be the same situation all over again."
Vigliotti wondered whether Carroll County could meet Blueprint standards in their "own way," byway of "equivalence," but not necessarily "compliance."
Commissioner Michael Guerin then intervened, questioning whether the state could even fund the $9,226 per pupil required by the Blueprint which rises to $12,365 by 2033. Additionally, Guerin pointed out that local school officials would have no say in how additional funding is spent, giving the state discretion on where to allocate the money.
Guerin also rejected the assumption of one parent teacher in attendance, who warned the County's failure to fund the $57 million would cause families to leave. In denying that theory, Guerin mentioned increased state revenue generated by repeatedly rising property taxes, leaving Carroll as one of the state's most affordable counties to live.
In the end, commissioners seemed poised to decline fully funding the requested amount, but hinted at meeting the school system somewhere in the middle.
The Carroll County Board of Education is scheduled to receive another update on Blueprint funding on Wednesday at 4pm.