Prince Frederick, MD – Calvert County has a funding formula in place for public schools for the next four years. During its May 11 meeting the Calvert County Board of Education (BOE) unanimously approved the proposed formula that will be used to determine the amount of the annual county appropriations to Calvert County Public Schools (CCPS). The formula was presented to the Calvert County Commissioners last month by the county government’s Department of Finance and Budget. The county commissioners unanimously approved the formula, which will determine county allocations for fiscal years 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Daniel Curry had recommended to the BOE that they sign off on the approval. In fact, following the vote, which yielded no discussion, the school board members did just that, each signing the memorandum of understanding and making the fiscal strategy official.
According to a Calvert County Government press release, “three factors are included in the education funding formula. Starting with the prior year’s appropriations, funding will be based on student enrollment increases, changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and an additional adjustment factor of 1 percent. A decline in student enrollment will not decrease funding and the CPI factor is capped at 3.5 percent. The funding agreement has a ‘new school adjustment’ to provide for up to $1 million in additional funds to offset operating costs for new schools. It also specifies that any unassigned public schools fund balance, or savings, in excess of $5 million will be contributed to the school system’s Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) trust fund. These (OPEB) are benefits, other than pensions, such as health insurance, that employees receive as part of retirement benefits.”
The county government missive also stated that additional one-time allocations for the next two fiscal years are included in the funding agreement. Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 funding will include a $500,000 allocation and FY 2019 will include a $2 million allocation, each of which will be offset by reducing contributions for OPEB by the same amounts.
Calvert County Commissioners’ President Tom Hejl [R – At large] described the funding formula as “generous.”
Carolinian appointed principal
The BOE voted unanimously to accept Curry’s recommendation to appoint Dr. Joe Sampson III as the principal at Calvert Elementary School (CES) for the next school year. Sampson is currently the principal of St. James Santee Elementary School in McClellanville, SC. Curry said Kim Harris, CES’ current principal, will be transferred to St. Leonard Elementary School, succeeding Toni Chapman, who is retiring at the end of the school year. Sampson described himself as “a military brat. I’ve been all over the place.” He added that he has relatives who reside in the Southern Maryland area. “My kids are excited,” he told the school board.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com