The Baltimore County Council grilled the county's top school officials yesterday about why they need $6.1 million more than they originally requested to run the schools this year.
Superintendent Anthony G. Marchione said that the deficit -- discovered in December -- is largely the result of excessive costs for personnel and special education.
But council members peppered Marchione with questions during a work session yesterday about why he didn't alert them sooner than January about the deficit, whether administrative cuts would cover it and who is responsible for the shortfall.
"What steps are being taken to make sure this doesn't happen again and that someone is held accountable for it?" asked Councilman John Olszewski Sr., a Dundalk Democrat.
Council members said yesterday they will likely approve Marchione's request, though perhaps not all of it, at Monday's council meeting.
"We're inclined to look favorably on the request, when the fact is five years ago that might not have been the case," said Council Chairman Kevin B. Kamenetz, a Pikesville-Randallstown Democrat who indicated that the council's relationship with school officials has improved in recent years.
But council members added that they would like to see more cuts in administrative costs.
"I have said many times before, Greenwood is way too big," said Councilman Stephen G. Sam Moxley, a Catonsville Democrat, referring to the school system's headquarters in Towson.
With more than 80 percent of the budget tied up in salaries and benefits for teachers and other employees, Marchione said, little room is left for cuts.
About $4.5 million of the shortfall is tied to personnel, he said, including delays in job reductions and incorrect estimates of how much money would be saved when people were hired to replace retirees.
Marchione said the budget problems can be traced to miscalculated enrollment projections and revenue estimates that school officials used in preparing their budget in December 1997.
The enrollment projections, which determine how much state and county funding the system receives, were corrected as the budget was being prepared for the school board, leading officials to try to cut the spending plan by $11 million, Marchione said.
But the superintendent said yesterday that the proposed cuts were "unrealistic," forcing him to request the $6.1 million in additional funds.
"We couldn't do it without affecting what goes on in the classroom," Marchione said. "It wasn't a realistic budget to start with."
Pub Date: 3/31/99
