Even as severe budget cuts loom over Montgomery County schools, community members have been offering district officials an earful about exactly what to save. “We may end up with everyone a little unhappy,” said Marshall Spatz, the district’s budget director. But he quickly pointed out gains the school system has already made.
“We’ve been working on our reforms since 1999, and that means there are already a lot of things embedded in the structure of the system” such as reduced class sizes in at-risk schools and a strong push for advanced-level college preparation at every high school.
But past gains didn’t stop hundreds of community members from coming before the school board at public hearings over the past month to address the district’s increasingly scarce dollars.
From parents and teachers, maintaining small class sizes was a common theme, even as the district’s enrollment unexpectedly shot up this year. “Many fads in education have come and gone in the last 45 years,” said Montgomery Blair High School social studies teacher George Vlasits. Reduced classroom size “is one tenet that has stood the test of time.”
Vlasits added that at Blair, the goal of ninth-grade classes with 22 students has been dwarfed by an average of 28 students in U.S. history classes and 25 in English classes.
Special education activists called for increased funding for teacher training and more classroom aides. The need, they said, is magnified because of last year’s cost-saving measure to integrate more special education students into regular education classrooms.
“My greatest wish is that I will be able to back off next year without [my son] losing meaningful access to the curriculum,” said Ricki Sabia, explaining she spends hours each week reteaching her special needs son.
Students spoke out in support of magnet middle schools, green energy and support programs for at-risk or non-English-speaking youth.
Over nearly six hours of testimony, school board members responded with bountiful appreciation and reminders that tough decisions lie ahead.
“The key is consistency of purpose,” Spatz said, adding he had just one complaint from the recent community forums.
“No one said we need more help for the budget office.”
