Officials from Carroll County Schools are asking for $2.25 million in the county?s proposed $303 million budget in order to hire more teachers for the impending switch to a full-day kindergarten program.
Superintendent Charles Ecker has asked the county commissioners to consider funding for another 55 teachers in the 2007 budget.
To keep up with the state?s mandate that kindergarten classes must last all day, Carroll has been scrambling to add more teachers and classrooms. To switch another six or seven schools to the all-day format, officials want 20 new kindergarten teachers, 20 instructional assistants and 15 other teachers and support positions, said Assistant Superintendent of Administration Steve Guthrie.
With the county phasing in the all-day kindergarten over the next three years, getting the teachers and facilities to support the increase in student time has become one of the most important issues in the schools? budget, Ecker said.
“As you rank your priorities, this has to come first because it?s state-mandated,” said Curtis Schnorr, head of elementary schools. “But we knew it was coming, so we were able to put that first.”
The budget will also include a $2.6 million increase over last year for special education funding, including 22 new special education teachers and assistants.
While Carroll County?s students are meeting requirements set out by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, some students will require more help keeping up with rising standards, Guthrie said.
“As we look at our numbers, those are the subgroups that will hit those lines first,” he said.
The requested schools budget came in $6 million higher than what the county can spend on its share of school funding, Guthrie said, so some changes may not happen or could be reduced.
Money matters
» The county?s proposed school spending is $151.9 million ? more than half of the total budget.
» The budget will also include $373,000 to move 5th-graders from overcrowded schools into North Carroll Middle School.
» Growth for 2007 is only projected to be 1.26 percent, or approximately 360 new students.
