What scenarios to close the budget gap did staff present for Board consideration at the May 27th work session?

Staff presented two scenarios with several options at the May 27 budget work session for Board consideration.

The first scenario would result in a class size increase of one at the secondary level only and be adjusted to not impact middle and high schools with higher rates of students qualifying for free and reduced meals. This scenario totals $7.5 million dollars of school-based cuts impacting 94.8 positions, and $1.4 million dollars of non-school-based cuts impacting 7.0 positions, including:

School-Based

Should investment income and fund balance alone be used to close the budget gap?

One way to close the budget gap, which has been floated publicly by several people and discussed during our most recent work session with the County Council, is to increase projections for investment income, leverage unassigned fund balance, and tap the health fund balance. It has been stated that these three mechanisms alone would reduce the remaining gap. Unfortunately, this is not possible, nor is it recommended. Here is more information about what it would look like and the associated risks we would be assuming if we went that route.

Why is my student not eligible for bus transportation even though we are outside the allowed walkable distance?

There are several reasons why this could occur. First, HCPSS measures the distance from the property line of the school/school campus to the property line of the bona fide residence of the student. This measure is often different from measurements using popular mapping applications such as Google Maps or Apple Maps. Additionally, Board of Education Policy 5200 Student Transportation outlines a line of demarcation that can extend non-transportation areas above the listed distances in order to complete streets/neighborhoods when appropriate.

Subscribe to