The St. Mary’s County Board of Education approved their Fiscal Year 2013 budget Thursday evening. The $183.5 million budget now goes to the county commissioners for approval.
The school board’s budget follows the approval this week of the county budget which allocated more than the required maintenance of effort and also funds the board’s $2.4 million responsibility for the shift in teacher pension costs from the state. In also provides additional funding for OPEB (Other Post-Employment Benefits).
It’s up to the school board to decide how to allocate the monies received from the county. The county’s funding is almost $2 million less than what the schools had requested. To make up for that the school system’s negotiated agreement with the two bargaining units reduces their cost of living increase to 1.5 percent from two percent (More than $600,000 savings) and effects a cost savings to the budget for health care costs ($1.6 million).
Other changes in the budget approved on Thursday were:
· Elimination of Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program at Leonardtown High School, and adding of two elementary school teachers
· Change Evergreen Elementary School guidance counselor to an assistant principal.
· Deletion of new science textbooks ($1 million savings). That was included as a separate item in the request to the commissioners which was not funded.
