PUBLIC HEARING
Public Input to County Executive for HCPSS budget To Occur March 12th at 6pm
In the next few weeks, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball will make broad decisions about how much money to allocate to HCPSS for education vs the various other county expenses.
March 12th is the date of the County Executive public hearing where residents can voice support for budget items such as our schools.
The Board of Education budget request may be funded only in part by the County Executive---meaning that further cuts to education in our schools may occur!
Public Hearing March 12th at 6pm at the George Howard Building (near the HoCo District Court) is when community input is considered when weighing county budget priorities.
Families are encouraged to attend the meeting and send emails to support HCPSS!
To provide feedback for the March 12th hearing: https://www.howardcountymd.gov/Departments/County-Administration/Budget/Give-Budget-Testimony
(email testimony to: www.howardcountymd.gov/budgettestimony. )
To learn more about the timeline of Howard County public school system budget: https://www.hcpss.org/f/aboutus/budget/fy21/fy21-operating-budget-timeline.pdf
Overview of progress of HCPSS on the FY2021 budget: https://www.hcpss.org/about-us/budgets/fy21/
Below is a sample letter. You can copy this letter in an email or you can use it as a template to write your own. Please add your personal stories of how important staffing and school programs, such as music, are to your family.
Dear Dr. Ball and members of the Board of Education,
I am writing regarding the proposed FY 21 HCPSS budget. I support keeping the budget funded at Dr. Martirano’s requested level.
Dr. Martirano’s budget proposal requests that staffing reflect the growth in our student population. Cuts in para- educators and teacher supports have put significant pressure on our teachers and administration. Teachers have been already over working to meet the demands of the students. Due to lack of para-educators, students who need extra help are not being attended.
Furthermore, during the work sessions, the Board has floated plans to trim essential programs such as music. This is unacceptable to parents! Enough cuts!!! Music is a vital program for our students’ health and well-being, as well as, their academic success.
As a tax-payer of Howard County, I request the Board of Education and the County Executive go well past maintenance of effort to fund the HCPSS budget at this level. Howard County should be dedicated to providing a robust educational foundation for our children by addressing the revenue issue.
