Anne Arundel County officials say creation of the school budget needs to change because of this year?s large funding request, which the county could not fulfill.
Council Chairman Ronald Dillon, R-District 3, said the Anne Arundel School Board should tax residents directly if it wants more money.
“The whole system needs to be scrapped ? it?s a broke system,” he said.
But County Executive John Leopold said the county administration and County Council need to have more control over the schools? budget.
“This has been going on for decades, and frankly, it?s a dysfunctional system that cries out for reform,” he said.
Leopold said the school system does not take into account other agencies that need money and the county?s limited resources in part because it has a cap on its property taxes.
He said this year?s 17 percent increase request from the school system was “unrealistic.” The school budget consumes nearly half of the county budget.
School system spokesman Bob Mosier said his agency follows the budget process required by law, and would not comment on any need for changes.
For more than a month, county and school officials have wrangled over the school system budget. Leopold gave the schools only half of what the school system requested.
The latest incident occurred this week when Superintendent Kevin Maxwell purchased a $4 million payroll system despite a County Council request to wait 30 days while officials see if the system could work in other county agencies.
Even those who support increasing school funding say problems exist.
“The process is what is fundamentally causing a lot of the problems,” said Councilman Josh Cohen, D-District 6.
But as much as officials want reform, the outlook for such change is daunting as it would require serious legal maneuvering.
“You?ll never see it here,” Dillon said. “There is such resistance to that type of change.”
The process
The Anne Arundel School Board and Superintendent Kevin Maxwell design a budget request that is reviewed and possibly revised by County Executive John Leopold. The County Council then votes on the budget.
