Anne Arundel school officials want to make one fact clear: One hundred fifty teaching positions could be left vacant ? not cut ? for the next school year if the school board?s proposed budget is not fully funded.
“It?s much easier to give back teachers than to take them away,” said Greg Nourse, the school system?s assistant superintendent for business and management services, referring to the vacancies in testimony given before the County Council on Wednesday.
The school board?s proposed $969 million fiscal 2009 operating budget request is nearly $100 million more than the previous year?s and includes about $72 million to meet salary and related increases for employees to fully fund negotiated increases.
If the countywide jobs need to be left vacant, the school system would have 200 empty positions, because an additional 50 positions are being held open this year, Nourse said.
Leaving positions vacant would mean 150 fewer teachers would be hired next year, said Florie Bozzella, the school system?s director of human resources.
During the past few years, about 600 to 700 new teachers have been hired to cover normal attrition from retirements and resignations, she said.
“I want to make it perfectly clear that I believe we will be able to accomplish this reduction through attrition, and that professionally [certified] teachers who wish to remain with Anne Arundel County Public Schools will be able to do so,” Superintendent Kevin Maxwell stated in a letter this month to principals.
Fewer teachers next year would translate into increased class sizes, to which school officials admit, said Tim Mennuti, president of the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County.
With vacant positions, some teachers could be moved to other schools, officials said.
The only teachers who might not come back are those who had provisional, one-year contracts who need to reapply to return ? and that?s not different from any other year, Bozzella said.
Such reassurance, however, didn?t stop several council members from expressing concern.
“We have tried every year to add teachers, and it distresses me that this is the first year we?re going to have to make cuts, said Councilman Edward Reilly, R-District 7.
Councilman Edward Middlebrooks, R-District 2, said he wasn?t convinced the vacancies would be a reality.
“I believe the issue will evaporate before it gets here and that it?s much ado about nothing,” he said.
If the budget is fully funded, then there won?t be a reduction in 200 teacher positions, said school system spokesman Bob Mosier.
“Now can we say that all 200 positions will come back? We can?t say that for certain,” he said.
County Executive John R. Leopold will forward his proposed fiscal 2009 operating and capital budgets to the County Council next month.
