Garrett school board delaying decision on elementary school closings

Vote to come during April 24 meeting

Elaine Blaisdell Cumberland Times-News

OAKLAND — The final decision on whether to close Dennett Road, Friendsville and Kitzmiller elementary schools will come during a special meeting April 24, the Garrett County Board of Education voted at its Tuesday meeting.

Delaying the decision will allow time for additional funding opportunities and to allow the committees additional time to work, according to Sue Waggoner, interim superintendent of schools. Advisory committee reports will be presented at the next board meeting on March 13.

“Because of pending legislation and other assistance, possibly, I would like to recommend that the superintendent’s recommendation not be made until April 10, because it will be after the close of the legislative session,” said Waggoner.

House Bill 660 and Senate Bill 586, proposed by Sen. George Edwards and Delegates Wendell Beitzel, Kevin Kelly and LeRoy Myers Jr., limit the board’s losses in state funding to 5 percent for the next three years. If the bill passes, it will cap losses at $1.5 million, according to Larry McKenzie, the board’s director of finance.

The Senate bill also asks that the study done by the Maryland State Department of Education include the impact on state funding of declining enrollments in local school systems with small enrollments.

“We are hoping that the bill does something for rural counties in the future. We can’t be the fifth-wealthiest county in the state with 46 percent farms,” said Waggoner.

Board vice president Charlotte Sebold encouraged all county residents to support the bill and write letters, stating, “It’s going to be heard.”

The hearing on SB 586 will be brought to the Senate Budget and Tax Committee on Wednesday at 1 p.m. in Annapolis, according to Sebold.

Angel Simms, a teacher at Dennett Road Elementary School, asked board members if they had talked to other counties about how they are cutting costs. Simms noted that she called 14 counties to ask if they closed schools and how they are saving money.

“I have talked to 14 counties. None of them had said they had closed schools. Some of them laughed. They think it’s a laughable idea that you would close a school,” said Simms. “When I started realizing that they are not closing schools and they are not firing all these teachers, I asked what are they doing.”

Some of the schools raised the co-pay for health insurance from $10 to $20; made a 5 percent cut to all programs; took furloughs; cut all salaries across the board; offered early retirement incentives; and placed a freeze on buying new maintenance equipment, according to Simms.

“To me, the things you want to think about cutting first are the things that kids aren’t going to notice,” said Simms. “The first thing they are going to notice is that their school is closed and their teachers are gone. So that’s the last thing you want to cut.”

The board is talking with other counties to try to find any kind of money savings, according to Thomas Carr, president.

“We do go down (to Annapolis) and lobby and will be going down for the March 15 (Maryland Association of Boards of Education) lobby day,” said Carr. “We are on the road a lot talking to people.”

The board also voted to honor a retirement incentive for employees even though there are fewer certificated employees then originally planned. The retirement letters that were sent to 158 eligible employees called for 15 certificated employees and three noncertificated employees. Only 10 certificated employees and nine noncertificated employees ex-pressed an interest in the retirement incentive.

The retirement incentive would save an estimated of $400,000 to $500,000, according to Waggoner.

The county commissioners had encouraged the board to review retirement incentives as a way to reduce staff numbers without eliminating new employees.

“We are going to look and see if we can absorb those positions,” said Waggoner during the board meeting.

Applications for a new superintendent are being received by the Maryland Association of Boards of Education. The board will meet with association representatives on March 14, said Carr. Interviews for the position will begin March 31; the second round of interviews will be conducted April 21; and final interviews will take place May 16-18.

“We have six applications in hand and possibly another one. At that point (in May), we desperately hope to have a new superintendent,” said Carr.

Waggoner had accepted the interim position for a year when former Superintendent Wendell Teets retired.

Contact Elaine Blaisdell at eblaisdell@times-news.com

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