The Prince George’s County schools superintendent says his plan to cut 1,100 jobs is unavoidable, as the school system is facing an expected $85 million shortfall in the coming fiscal year. Most of the cuts won’t affect teachers, with many coming from administrative, media specialist and athletic director positions.
Superintendent William Hite said $1.3 billion of his proposed $1.6 billion budget is personnel costs, so it doesn’t “give us a lot of wiggle room to get the amounts we must cut.”
Some of the reductions include saving $20 million by increasing class sizes and another $10 million by making pre-kindergarten half-day instead of full-day, according to documents. Hite called the cuts to schools “really unavoidable.”
Schools spokeswoman Lynn McCawley said she couldn’t pinpoint which schools will be affected the most, saying Hite’s plan is a “broad proposal.” Officials won’t “get down to the nitty-gritty” until the budget is approved at the end of the month, she said, though some of the job cuts likely would be the result of attrition.
The cuts are in addition to those proposed by Hite in December, when he called for making $2.2 million in cuts to custodial staff, $2.5 million to secretaries and $1 million to guidance counselors for elementary schools with enrollment for 350 students or fewer.
Hite said his budget also calls for eliminating 33 percent of the $85 million shortfall by cutting jobs and services from the system’s central administration office.
The budget gap grew when Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley told the county that the state would give it $20.8 million less than last year.
But Hite is holding out hope that the state will return the county’s funding to the current fiscal year’s level.
“We think we have a basis to request level funding and level funding for us means $20 million,” he said, making the point that it’s not “fair” that Prince George’s is bearing the brunt of $20 million of $94 million in statewide education cuts.
“These are difficult decisions that certainly not everyone will be happy with,” O’Malley spokesman Shaun Adamec said. “K-12 education has been held harmless for four years while other parts of the state budget were cut to the bone. That’s unfortunately no longer possible.”
