BOE Policy Approved; Finzel Students May No Longer Attend Allegany Schools

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May. 13, 2010

After much deliberation, the Garrett County Board of Education voted 4–1 in favor of changing Board Policy 432.0, which allowed a percentage of Garrett County students to attend Allegany County schools. Besides board members and media representatives, approximately 60 people attended this month's meeting held at Southern Middle School on Tuesday.
The new policy states that all Garrett County residents currently attending Allegany schools in grades 6 through 12 would be permitted to finish their school careers within their current schools; however, once those students were graduated, the GC board would no longer fund the tuition nor transport of any stu-dent(s) thereafter. Students would be permitted to attend Allegany schools if their parents so desired, but only at their own expense.

The meeting opened with public comment by four people: two for the proposal and two against it. After the board met in executive session, and the meeting was reopened to the public, guests were once against given an opportunity to speak on the issue. Four additional people opposed to the proposal spoke prior to superintendent Dr. Wendell Teets' recommendation.

Among some of the concerns of many Finzel residents was that those forced to go to Garrett County schools would "miss out" on extracurricular opportunities because of the time and distance students would have to travel to and from Northern middle and high schools.

Another point made was that residents who did not agree with the new policy would simply move out of the Finzel area, creating issues such as reduced property value and a lower tax revenues for the county. Residents repeatedly commented that "their lives revolve around the Frostburg, LaVale, and Cumberland areas," therefore creating an inconvenience in many ways for those who would have to adapt to the new policy.

Teets then took the podium to give his official recommendation to approve the policy. Among his comments were that over $150,000 was being paid in tuition for students to attend Allegany schools. He stated that while the board is currently forced to decrease Garrett County educational staff, support, and services to GC schools, this expense can no longer be justified.

An additional $36,000 is spent on the transport of Finzel students to Allegany schools, and $150,000 in state aid is lost on these students each year. With the approval of this policy change, funding for Garrett County schools would increase $336,000 at full phase out (once students currently in grades 6 through 12 graduate).

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