The public library system received funding that would have paid for five more teaching assistants for Anne Arundel?s early childhood education program.The County Council on Thursday decided to transfer $225,000 from the school board?s budget request to the library fund, said Susan Bowen, the school system?s director of budget and finance.
“We?re still going to be meeting children?s needs, but we feel we can just do a little better job with some more aides for better classroom management. This is just a delay,” she said, referring to the council?s move that would postpone adding the positions another year.
One teaching assistant works in every four classrooms for the 6,500 students in early childhood education, Bowen said.
The additional aides would have brought that ratio to one assistant in three classrooms; however, the state recommends one teacher and one aide per classroom, leaving the school system continuing to close the gap, she said.
Early childhood education consists of prekindergarten, which is offered in 29 schools, and kindergarten, which is in all elementary schools.
Most of these students go to school for half a day, officials said.
Teachers follow the county curriculum for reading/language arts, mathematics, science and social studies, and also teach physical education, health, art, music and technology classes.
Officials said they were not disappointed at the news but recognized this would be a difficult budget year.
“We?re still in a far, far better place than we could have envisioned a month ago, and [the] County Council deserves credit for that,” schools spokesman Bob Mosier said.
Besides the reduction in early childhood education, there were no other major setbacks for the school system after the approval of the fiscal 2009 operating and capital budgets.
Barbara Griffith, the system?s coordinator of early childhood, was unavailable for comment.
