The Issues at Stake
Lisa Maisano and Julie Walsh have one over-arching goal: Ensuring that Carroll County Public Schools (CCPS) provides an excellent education to its students.
They want to see CCPS honor its duty to the children of Carroll County by providing for well-functioning schools, excellent teachers, the resources necessary for meeting children’s educational needs, and the opportunities that help children thrive. Julie and Lisa want to shift the narrative from “How can we make do?” to “How can we achieve the excellent school system our community expects and our children deserve?”
In working to achieve their goal, Lisa and Julie hope to collaborate with, and learn from, parents and community members all over the County.
They also know that they will need to dig into a number of issues related to CCPS’ budget and operations.
Julie and Lisa expect to consider CCPS’s recent history of budget cuts, its obligation to meet Maryland’s Blueprint for Education law, its last-place position in per-pupil spending, and its need to develop a long-term budget plan.
They will have to be mindful of needs regarding teacher compensation, staff training, facilities maintenance, and capital improvements.
They also expect to wrangle with the appropriate use of technology in the classroom.
Please see below for more information on each of these issues.
What are the challenges facing CCPS?
A History of Budget Challenges
During the period of declining student enrollment from 2009-2019, $40M in ongoing cuts to all departments across the system turned CCPS into one of the leanest school systems in the state and made absorbing additional cuts especially difficult.
Blueprint for Maryland’s Future
CCPS initially struggled to implement the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future law, but after being granted a waiver and working with the state’s financial consultants, the school system is in a better position to meet the law without drastic staffing reallocations. Although CCPS is in an improved position, there are still challenges to make sure all schools have the resources necessary to meet student needs.
Per Pupil Funding
Due to the makeup of its student populations, the state’s education formula, and Carroll County’s relative wealth, CCPS ranks lowest in the state in per pupil funding. The BOE is justified in requesting and receiving more funding to keep the programs that our students deserve and our community expects.
Long-Term Budget Planning
With projected CCPS budget deficits over the next 5 years, our schools will continue to face financial challenges and the working relationship between the BOE and the Commissioners will be essential to finding solutions.
What else needs to be considered?
Employee Compensation
All staff and employees of the school system are valued for their contributions toward our children’s educations and, as such, deserve to be both respected and compensated well.
Staff Training
Investing in our children’s teachers and school staff makes sure they have the tools and the training they need to be successful at educating our kids.
Facilities Maintenance Funding
Since 2018, CCPS has been using money from it’s “rainy day” fund to pay for facilities maintenance after that line item was removed from the operating budget as a cost savings measure.
Capital Improvements & School Modernizations
The amount of capital investment is not keeping pace with the school facility needs in the county. We need to make progress on modernizing our schools because our children deserve safe, modern, and well-maintained learning environments.
Technology in the Classroom
CCPS should reevaluate the proper role of technology in the classroom to create the best possible learning environment for students.
What issues are important to you?
Lisa and Julie have gone into great detail about the issues they have their eyes on, but they also want to know: What issues are important to you?
Are you a parent of a child attending Carroll County Public Schools? Are you a teacher? A local employer? Do you have personal experience with special education in the County? With the school system’s efforts to make students college or career ready? Are you a champion of CCPS? Are you a critic?
Regardless of where you stand in this race, or what your relationship to Carroll County Public Schools looks like, Julie and Lisa would love to hear from you. Please weigh in at the link below to tell them about your experiences with, your concerns about, and your priorities for our public schools.