The Kent County Board of Education approved the school budget for 2012 as presented by KCPS Superintendent Dr. A. Barbara Wheeler. The Board commended the work of Wheeler and her staff in meeting the school systems staffing needs under the constraints of a $1-million reduction in appropriations, which is below the Maryland Maintenance of Effort benchmark. During the Board meeting it was learned that two teachers would be laid off to meet budget targets, and another teacher would move to a part-time position. The cuts come in staff reductions of one middle school math teacher and one elementary school art teacher.
KCPS Supervisor of Human Resources Jeffrey S. Grafton said that another full-time teacher will be offered a teacher’s assistant position, which will mean a reduction in pay. In light of the staff cuts, Grafton made it clear that projected staff reductions may not be absolute and that circumstances could possibly help to fend off these teacher cuts through assignment changes.
The only previously known staffing change reported was to the current COO of KCPS, Dexter Lockamy, who was told by board members in early May that the people of Kent County could not support his near $115,000 salary under the current budget crunch. Out of the meeting came the abolishment of the COO position and the creation of a Financial Supervisor in 2012 at a salary of $78,000. Lockamy was undecided on whether he would apply for the new position. Grafton said that Lockamy’s qualifications would make him eligible to apply given the requirements of the position.
Before a motion to approve the budget, BOE member Dr. Michael Harvey was concerned about the loss of an art teacher that would leave six art teachers for seven schools. Harvey asked Wheeler for the plans for the art position. In a last ditch effort to save the art teacher position before adopting the budget, Harvey asked fellow members to look at some of the other budget items that realized increases in the 2012 budget over last year in order to find an additional $20,000 to meet the art teacher’s salary and avoid downgrading that position to a teacher’s assistant.
The board considered cutting the increase in legal services from $96,000 back to the previous year’s funding of $90,000 and scaling back Repairs to Buildings from $98,000 back to the previous year’s level of $84,500. Lockamy warned against any cuts to legal services. Wheeler explained that the increase in Repairs to Buildings was to install lights in the parking lot at Rock Hall Elementary School.
The budget was adopted unanimously without finding money to save the art teacher position.