Harford County teachers and parents concerned about proposed cuts to county budget
BALTIMORE -- Harford County taxpayers had another chance to let county officials know what they think about the proposed cuts to the budget.
Teachers claim the proposed budget cuts by Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly will defund education.
Some of them showed up to the county budget meeting to express their concerns.
Teachers have already faced a myriad of challenges. Some of those challenges cropped up during the coronavirus pandemic. Other challenges center around staffing shortages.
Now, these teachers are up against budget cuts that will reduce millions of dollars in funding that was supposed to go to the county's schools.
"Class sizes are going to go up, and that's bad for everybody," teacher Leigh Bondrole said. "Students need to have interaction with teachers, and we can't give the interaction they need to help them improve and learn what they need to learn."
Cassilly had proposed a budget of about $305 million for Harford County Public Schools, which officials say is about $19.5 million less than last year's budget.
"To have the budget decreased is unacceptable," Roye-Williams Elementary School Principal Rose Martino said.
Back in April, Cassilly told WJZ that his goal was to keep taxes down. He noted that the schools are already sitting on a $90 million surplus that will fully fund the needs of the schools.
Other taxpayers said they supported the budget cuts.
"If you have that much, you don't need more," one person said.
The proposed budget would also give over $3 million to the Harford County Sheriff's Office and add 130 first responder positions.
But that's not enough money for the Harford County Sheriff's Office to go through with its plans to build a new $22 million police precinct and training facility.
Some people are worried the budget decision might put their safety at risk.
"The tax raises the county executive put out—I think it's $500 for every family—are trivial for other costs we will encounter," parent David Bauer said.
The final vote on the county budget is expected in June.
Cassilly said in a statement issued Wednesday night that he appreciated the public interest in his budget.
"My commonsense budget delivers essential services without raising taxes," he said. "Demands to increase education funding by $40M and Sheriff's funding by $22M are excessive and cannot be achieved without increasing taxes. Just like our struggling taxpayers, government must live within the limits of the available revenue."