Prince George's Schools Budget-Cutting Alternatives Few and Far Between

It’s got everyone on edge, and it isn’t going away. It’s the $155 million question: Which programs and positions should be cut from the Prince George’s County Public Schools system?

Few seemed able to answer that question Thursday night before the Board of Education and Superintendent William R. Hite Jr., whose proposed .

Instead, most of the focused on what shouldn’t be cut. Berwyn Heights Councilwoman Patricia Dennison, for example, framed the problem well yet offered little in the way of concrete, cost-cutting alternatives.

“Your motto is ‘Children Come First’ on your website,” Dennison told the board, listing off several programs and positions on the chopping block. “I would like to ask you to consider different cuts carefully that will make less impact to classrooms and the children of Prince George’s County."

The proposed fiscal 2012 budget would affect several school programs, increase some class sizes and produce more than 1,100 pink slips..

Many who turned up to the public hearing in Upper Marlboro on time, even early, were greeted at the entrance by the words, “Sorry, we’re too full,” and had to tune in from a nearby hallway containing large speakers.

For those teachers, parents and students who did squeak through the entrance doors, many brought with them makeshift signs in support of the 12 guidance counselor positions that may be lopped from the $1.6 billion school budget.

One read, “Counselors Are Vital, Visible, Valuable,” while another read, “Counselors Rock.”

T’Wana Warrick-Bell, a school counselor, spoke of the growing gap between counselor-to-student ratios that the proposed budget would create.

“Did you know that the American School Counseling Association and American Counseling Association recommend a pupil-to-school-counselor ratio of 250-to-1? And yet, our local average in Prince George’s County is as high as 500-to-1," Warrick-Bell said. "The result, as the study confirms, is a significantly decreased ability of school counselors to work with students.”

“Let’s not cut out the heart and nerve that support our students,” she said.

Of the 100-or-so others who spoke up, a few did provide the board with specific cost-cutting alternatives.

Beth Brittan-Powell, a Berwyn Heights mother of three, said reducing some 12-month positions down to 11 months might be the solution.

“Our principal told me she’s willing to take an 11-month contract if it helps,” she said. “What about looking into three-to-four-day work weeks? Or job sharing?”

Brittan-Powell didn’t stop there.

“According to your records, there are 83 executive-level staff members. Combined, they make $11.6 million. The proposed budget is asking them for a 1 percent pay decrease. Those are the only furloughs on the table,” she said.

“If, in fact, one furlough day equals $5 million, five furlough days would save Camp Schmidt, Reading Recovery, media specialists, CPA [creative and performing arts], transportation and JROTC.”

Although Alethia McCullough, a teacher, said she wouldn’t support furloughs, she did offer up a few cost-savers of her own.

“Overwhelmingly, my peers, who are [both] veterans and new to the field, have stated that they can no longer afford to teach in this county,” she said. “Most of us work a minimum of at least 20 additional hours per week without any compensation."

“Instead of hiring specialists to reorganize the same content and curriculum each year, leave that up to the school-based personnel. We already know what graphic organizers to use, what plans to write and what content to teach.”

For more information about these cuts and others, go to the school system's website. To learn how to contact your representatives read .