Thousands rally in Cecil County for education funding, challenge county executive priorities: ‘The money is there’

Dillon Mullan, Baltimore Sun
Updated ·6 min read

The Cecil County Public Schools community gathered by the busload Tuesday night to protest looming budget cuts that many are blaming on County Executive Danielle Hornberger. With massive reductions to programs across the district on the table, a rally for education funding drew what organizers estimate to be over 2,000 people outside the county administration building in Elkton.

“Marching band, athletics, fine arts and similar projects that are on the chopping block, those are what help our kids stay on track,” Dale Amos, a math teacher and athletic director at Rising Sun Middle School and assistant band director at Rising Sun High, said during the rally. “The money is there. It is there. There is no denying the money is there to do the right thing.”

Emergency coronavirus pandemic funds from the federal government expire at the end of this school year, while salaries, health care, transportation, contract services and insurance costs are rising. The district received around $27 million in federal funding in the current budget; that will drop to $12.4 million next year, according to Chief Financial Officer Denise Sopa.

In response, district leaders outlined at a school board meeting last month cuts to nearly every aspect of the district of 15,000 students in Maryland’s northeast corner, including potentially laying off two dozen teachers and librarians.

The projected cuts are based on an expectation that Hornberger’s county government would provide the district with the minimum of funding allowed by state law. In 2020, she won the Republican primary with 61% of the vote and the general election with 63%.

The county had an unassigned budget surplus of more than $18 million, as well as $10 million set aside for increases to the minimum contribution from county government that will be mandated by the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform plan, according to its 2023 comprehensive financial report published in June.

“Show me the money,” Amos said at the rally.

In July, Hornberger issued $20 million in tax rebates to homeowners. Per census data, about a quarter of the county’s population are renters. Through a spokesperson, she declined an interview request this week and was absent from the County Council meeting following Tuesday’s rally.

“I have initiated common sense conservative practices that are paying off big for our county,” she wrote in an opinion piece for The Baltimore Sun in June.

What might be cut?

At a school board meeting last month, Associate Superintendent Jenni Hammer called next year’s potential budget “an absolute dismantling of programs that directly support our students.”

The district would eliminate nearly all professional development, as well as new supplies and curriculum writing, while asking parents to cover costs for Advanced Placement exams and professional certifications at the vocational-technical school that the district previously covered. Chorus, band and orchestra would become pay-to-play. The district also would eliminate middle school sports to save $187,000 and junior varsity athletics to save around $150,000.

“Once those cuts were announced, every school in Cecil County lost its joy,” Mason Watters, a senior at Rising Sun High School and aspiring teacher, said at the rally. “With the county executive giving the bare minimum funding to Cecil County Public Schools, why would I or my classmates want to come back and teach in this county?”

Related Articles

The district would also drop its drug education program by cutting its two teachers, as well as four student services resource teachers who focus on attendance. The cuts would prevent the district from purchasing over 1,100 laptops for students and new security cameras in middle schools, according to Hammer’s presentation.

Hammer said the district would have to nix 113 teaching positions and at least five assistant principals. Superintendent Jeffrey Lawson said most years, around 100 teachers leave for various reasons, meaning some would need to be laid off.

“This is the first year where I am nervous that we may have to take existing employees and tell them they are being laid off,” Lawson said at the budget meeting.

Sopa said during the presentation that the county was the 16th wealthiest in Maryland but 24th and last in per-pupil funding for education in fiscal year 2023, down from 19th in fiscal year 2022. She added that since 2018, the percentage of the county government budget allocated to CCPS has dropped from 44% to 38%. And as the county government general fund budget has grown from $186 million to $232 million, a 35% increase, the school district’s allocation has increased by 8% from $82 to $89 million, she said.

“This is where I get really frustrated, and I feel like the county is trying to explain a deficit that doesn’t really exist,” school board President Diana Hawley said at the meeting. “It seems to me our taxes are one of the lowest in the state, which is great, fine. But our county clearly continues to sit on an increasing amount of money, and all we ask for is an investment in education, an investment in our county. I’ve spent a lot of time going through their finances and our finances, and I just don’t know what else to do. It’s frustrating.”

Education’s share of the budget

The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the state’s complex education plan over 10 years, mandates a minimum amount of funding that county governments must give their school districts. Next fiscal year, CCPS is set to receive a 1% increase in state funding, below the state average of 3%, according to state budget documents.

During a roundtable discussion about education funding with the County County and school board in December, Maryland Association of Counties Associate Policy Director Brianna January said Cecil County contributes a smaller share of its budget to schools than most of the state.

“Almost every county spends the most of their budget on education,” January said at the meeting. “For almost every single county, that’s the biggest portion of their budget. And for several counties, over half of our counties actually, I just looked at every single operating budget on all 24 for this year, over half of the county budget goes directly to the school system.”

Lawson noted that 38% of the county’s operating budget, not including capital construction projects, goes to the school district.

“Honestly, I think you can afford to give more than you’ve given,” Lawson said in front of Hornberger and the County Council.

During the meeting, board members criticized Hornberger for the $20 million in rebates to homeowners on county real estate tax bills last summer. According to state budget data, 55% of students in Cecil County qualify for free and reduced-price meals, meaning their family’s income is at or below 185% of the federal poverty level. Meanwhile, 18.5% of students in Cecil County are special education students, the highest share in the state, according to state budget documents.

At the meeting, Hornberger equated killing the rebates with raising taxes.

“There’s only so much, and we will not raise taxes,” Hornberger said. “And if you say that you need 20 million dollars, taxes are getting raised. So that’s just not gonna happen. We have to come to the table with a real ask. That’s what we would ask from you, that you come to the table with a real ask, real expectations.”

During the meeting, County Council President Jackie Gregory told the school board to cut raises for administrators.

“I think if things are restructured, you don’t have to cut anything,” Gregory said.

The school board will submit a budget request to the county government Feb. 29.