Latest news with #HCPSS
CBS News
03-07-2025
- General
- CBS News
Howard County parents on board with school district's special education changes, but want more done
Howard County Public Schools (HCPSS) is making big changes in special education that will address some longstanding issues that families and educators have been sounding the alarm on for years. HCPSS announced dozens of new and repurposed positions as part of a redesign effort of the school district's special education program. Parents with children who have Individualized Education Programs, or IEPs, say the announcement is a step in the right direction. Breaking down the plan For years, many have said HCPSS's special education program is overwhelmed, and staff have been stretched too thin. In a step to address the issue, 36 new and repurposed positions have been announced that will aim to "allow special educators to focus more on instruction and student support, rather than emergencies and compliance," according to the announcement. The positions are coordinators, instructional team leaders, elementary quick response staff, itinerant assessment team members, behavior analysts, behavior technicians, program assistants, autism specialists, and special education classroom staff. The goal is to have all these positions established and filled by the start of the 2025-2026 school year. Parents react to the plan Lizz Hammon and Cat Carter say special education in HCPSS has been hit or miss. Hammon's younger child has had an IEP for the last six years. "She has certainly not gotten everything that she's needed, at different points in time," Hammon said. "We got extremely lucky this past school year where she was just in the right place, at the right time, with the right people." Four of Carter's five kids have had IEPs, though two of them have been able to get off these plans. "The staff really care, but I think the bandwidth wasn't there. The boots on the ground weren't there," Carter said. Hammon, who is involved in a number of HCPSS initiatives and groups, said these changes show the school district is listening to the concerns. "It looked like there's an appetite for shaking things up and doing some changes," Hammon said. "This is not the panacea that's gonna fix everything, but it is definitely like breathing fresh air into a situation." Carter, who has recently been elected as the president of the PTA Council of Howard County, or PTACHC, is also a fan of the plan. But, she'd like to see more money invested, especially with hiring. "As a small business owner, I have to recruit the best. The way I recruit the best is through paying them," Carter said. HCPSS is currently in the middle of an audit of its special education program. The results of that audit are set to be revealed this month.
CBS News
27-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Howard County's public schools look into staff cuts, class increases to balance budget
The Howard County Board of Education is working to balance the public schools' budget, after it was given less than what it requested from the county. The Howard County Council adopted the county's FY2026 operating and capital budgets last Wednesday. The final allocation for the Howard County Public School System ended up being $816 million. It's more than what was initially proposed by County Executive Calvin Ball, but it's millions less than what school district leaders, staff, and families wanted. The Howard County Board of Education can make final adjustments until its June 4 work session. The budget will be adopted on June 12. What will be cut? The seven-member Board of Education held its first work session Tuesday morning since the county budget was adopted. HCPSS Superintendent Bill Barnes started the work session off with a presentation, which showed the school district officially faces a shortfall of around $15.3 million. To fill the gap, Barnes recommended eliminating what's been deemed as other budget priorities, which include security assistants and some human resources positions. Barnes also advised potentially leveraging some school system funds, which, per his recommendations, would bring the shortfall to just under $9 million. To balance the budget, Barnes presented two scenarios, both of which eliminated more than 100 positions. One of the scenarios also increased class sizes in middle schools and high schools. Several board members expressed concerns about the recommendations. "I am really concerned about cutting special education service levels, knowing already are not meeting all the needs of students," said board chair Jolene Mosley. Board member Antonia Watts expressed frustration, feeling like Barnes and the central office were withholding information until Tuesday's work session. "I don't understand why we're having this work session when we don't have the information that board members have requested to show our priorities in a scenario being built out," Watts said. Cat Carter, a member of the PTA Council of Howard County and a mother of five, has advocated for more funding for years. She was disappointed with this year's budget season and plans to run for the Howard County Council next year. David Yungmann, who has represented District 5 on the county council since 2018, doesn't plan to run for re-election in 2026. "We wouldn't be in this situation if the county council did the right thing, because our county has a spending problem and a priority problem," Carter said. Educators' contract at risk During the work session, board member Jacky McCoy suggested cuts could be coming for teachers. "If we care about our children, if we care about their education, every single one of us is going to have to sacrifice," McCoy said. "Even our teachers." The Howard County Education Association, or HCEA, just recently ratified a multi-year agreement for salary. "It went out to a membership vote, it was passed off by the Board of Education before it went out to a membership vote," HCEA president Benjamin Schmitt said. "It's been passed."
CBS News
21-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Howard County's school district will face a budget shortfall despite last-ditch efforts
The Howard County Public School System is still facing a budget shortfall after the county's fiscal year 2026 budget was approved on Wednesday. The county council voted to approve more than $2.7 billion in operating and capital funds after tense debates, primarily about funding for public schools. The school district received more than what was originally proposed, however, it's still not enough to fill the school district's gap to balance its budget. Overall, the county's FY26 operating budget is $2.35 billion, while the capital budget is $365 million. The final totals Before approving the budget, some county councilmembers tried some last-ditch efforts to increase HCPSS's allocation in the county operating budget. Initially, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball allotted around $800 million to the school district. Ball then filed emergency legislation to increase the share by $14.5 million from surplus funds. It came after hours of public testimony asking for the county to increase school district funding, and after HCPSS said it needed a minimum of $29.2 million more to pay for existing services and employee compensation, and benefits. Overall, HCPSS is slated to get $816 million in the budget, which means the school district is anticipated to make at least $13 million in cuts for the next school year. Howard County Councilwoman Deb Jung tried to increase HCPSS's share by more than a million, but the amendment failed to pass. Council chair Liz Walsh also said she tried to find $8 million to give to public schools. "I worked very hard to make sure that every cut I did make to our county budget was surgical; it would not hurt any of the departments," Jung said. Council vice chair Opel Jones and councilwoman Christiana Rigby consistently voted down attempts to increase public school funding. Jones noted that if the school district got more money, there would have to be cuts made elsewhere. "Any red cent that we come up with, we're pulling from somewhere else," Jones said. Rigby said she recognizes the need to increase public schools' funding, but adds there have been other factors, like federal funding uncertainty and the state deficit, to consider this cycle. "It's been very challenging because the local conversation is not taking into account what is happening outside of it," Rigby said. Overall, even though the approved HCPSS funding is higher than what the county's legally obligated to give, Walsh still isn't pleased. "I feel like this budget, as proposed and passed today by the majority of my colleagues, is a grave disservice to the Howard County Public School System," Walsh said in her closing remarks.
CBS News
13-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
$14.5 million in emergency school funding proposed to address Howard County budget shortfall
Howard County Executive Calvin Ball proposed emergency legislation for the County Council to allocate an additional $14.5 million to the Howard County Public School System's 2026 budget. The one-time payment would come from the county's policy reserve, boosting the $800 million already allocated to HCPSS in Ball's original budget proposal. The move comes after school officials determined around $29.2 million in additional cash is required to continue basic programs without cuts. Why is the county calling for more funding? Despite already dedicating $45.7 million, 64% of all new revenue growth, to the school system in the proposed budget, Ball says HCPSS faces additional financial challenges. "While approximately 64 percent of all new revenue growth in our proposed budget is already directed toward HCPSS, we recognize that the school system is facing additional fiscal challenges in the year ahead," Ball said. The emergency legislation would allow the use of one-time funds for recurring expenses, requiring approval from four of five Council members. Emergency funding was also invoked during the COVID-19 pandemic. What happens next? Ball's original FY26 proposal reached $800 million for HCPSS, part of a $1.2 billion total school budget, representing a 5.1% increase of $39 million in new recurring county funding. This exceeded state-mandated requirements by approximately $39.3 million. Ball also directed $6.7 million for educator pension costs newly transferred from the state. Council Bill 45-2025 has been pre-filed, with Ball requesting introduction by May 14, a public hearing on May 19, and a vote on May 21. The emergency funding, combined with HCPSS internal savings, aims to help meet the $29.2 million threshold needed to avoid staffing and program reductions.
CBS News
08-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Howard County school leaders stand ground with push for more funding
Howard County schools fight for more funding from the county Howard County schools fight for more funding from the county Howard County schools fight for more funding from the county Howard County school leaders are fighting for more funding, saying they aren't satisfied with what the county is proposing. The school district is hoping for at least $29.2 million more than what's allocated, fearing pretty big cuts if the funding doesn't come through. Earlier this week, the Howard County Council pressed HCPSS about its needs at a budget work session. The need for more funding When it was time to read her report at Thursday's Board of Education hearing, Board Chair Jolene Mosley instead read a prepared statement about the budget process. In that statement, she stressed what's at stake. "The devastating reality is that any decision we make to cut existing programs and services results in fewer educators to effectively instruct and prepare students," Mosley said. In the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 operating budget, HCPSS is slated to get more than $800 million. More than $47 million of that will be new revenue to the school district, but HCPSS said even more funding is needed to fill a gap of more than $100 million. "How do we stretch $47.3 million of revenue to cover $101.6 million worth of needs? The shorter answer is we can't," HCPSS Superintendent Bill Barnes said. To balance HCPSS's budget, Barnes said the school district needs $54.3 million. However, HCPSS is hoping for at least $29.2 million extra just to cover existing service commitments and employee compensation and benefits requirements. Last year, HCPSS made more than $31 million in cuts to balance its budget. Those cuts included eliminating nearly 200 positions. If the proposed allocation remains the same in the county's operating budget, Barnes said HCPSS will face $29.2 million in cuts -- which means the school district could make similar cuts this year. Barnes and Brian Hull, HCPSS's chief financial officer, have pointed to the Blueprint for Maryland's Future plan as a big obstacle. The education reform plan was passed by the state legislature in 2021 and it invests billions into public education over the next decade. Barnes and Hull say the mandates in the plan, though, have been costly to keep up with. "When the blueprint was passed, it was pretty expressly stated that this was going to force local governments to increase their spending on education," Hull said. "As we have seen across the state, many local governments either don't have the capacity, or the desire to do that." The same conversation Howard County Council members pressed HCPSS leadership about the school district's needs at Monday's budget work session. Several councilmembers noted HCPSS seems to be in a similar situation every budget cycle. "This is the same conversation, like every single year, we go through this. The community gets so wrapped up in it," said District 5 councilman David Yungmann. Councilmembers also questioned what the school district is doing to adjust to the challenges, some arguing there isn't enough being done. "It's been really painful to come to these conversations each year without seeing that significant shift in what you're doing or how you're doing it," DistrictThe 3 councilwoman Christiana Rigby said. District 4 Councilwoman Deb Jung, however, hinted she'd support increasing the school district's piece of the county's budget. "Not only [is the school district] supporting all [of your staff] and all those buildings, [it's] also supporting 57,000 students and their unbelievable needs every single day," Jung said. "In a community that says we love our schools, we want them to do everything for us." Howard County Council is scheduled to adopt the county's operating budget later this month. After it is adopted, HCPSS will adjust to whatever its final allocation is.
