Anne Arundel has less say in how state-provided education money is spent after Maryland reduces unrestricted funding

Anne Arundel County could pay more to educate public school students while having less say on how state money is spent if this year’s state funding levels serve as a model for the years to come.

Every year, the state provides the county with a pot of money divided into two funds, one county leaders must put toward certain state-mandated uses, and another they can use freely to pay for the year’s education needs and priorities. Typically, increases in year-over-year funding give the county more unrestricted grants than restricted, allowing county lawmakers and the Board of Education more discretion in what schools, programs and positions will get a boost in the budget.

Not so this year.

The state budgeted about $10.8 million in additional funding for Anne Arundel County schools this year, with only about $840,000 of those dollars free of mandated purposes. That number is out of line with what the school system typically expects, Anne Arundel County Public Schools chief operating officer Alex Szachnowicz told the County Council on Tuesday.

Last year the county received about $10 million in unrestricted funding.

“That is a very low number,” Szachnowicz said during his presentation. “It is atypical from anything that either you or us expect.”

He pointed to the county’s large enrollment decline by about 2,400 students at the start of the last school year. There are about 82,500 students still enrolled in Anne Arundel County public schools this year, down from about 84,900 in September 2019. The hit to the number initially created a $13 million reduction in the county’s maintenance of effort level, a funding metric that takes enrollment numbers into account to ensure local governments are adequately funding education.

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But after the Maryland General Assembly passed a cleanup bill to revise Blueprint For Maryland’s Future, an education reform package stemming from the state’s Kirwan Commission, the estimate of additional money needed to adequately fund schools swung in the other direction, to $18.7 million in more funding.

The state’s funding estimates on unrestricted funding haven’t made a similar swing. Szachnowicz called the funding breakdown a “foreshadowing of our future.”

Szachnowicz made his comments at Monday’s budget hearing on the education budget before the Anne Arundel County Council. There Szachnowicz and other education officials answered questions from council members and made requests for additional funding. The council continued those meetings Wednesday with budget hearings on public safety and other departments. A public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday and will be held virtually. The budget can be found at aacounty.org along with details on upcoming meetings.

Anne Arundel County, over the last five years, has always received more unrestricted funding than restricted funding in the new money supplied by the state. This year is the first the county will receive significantly more restricted funds than unrestricted. The trend could continue, Szachnowicz said.

“Over time with the passage of the blueprint and Kirwan funding, we will begin receiving less unrestricted funding from the state in the years going forward and more (in the) restricted category,” he said. “As is typical with our county, because the amount of support we get from the federal government and the state is inversely proportionate to our relative wealth here in the county, we are expected and reliant more on our local county government for funding the Board of Education.”

The Board requested about $69.9 million in additional spending this year. County Executive Pittman funded $34.5 million, which includes a step increase and a 1% cost of living adjustment for all public school employees.

Not included in Pittman’s budget is about $11.8 million in compensation to realign the salaries of teachers whose years of experience don’t match their compensation rate. The county executive said he hoped to provide that funding in a future budget depending on available funds.

Still, the county budget leaves the school system on the hook for $3.1 million in mid-year pay increases the Board negotiated with the school’s teacher’s union.

Anne Arundel Community College and the Anne Arundel County Public Library system also presented their budget requests to the council Monday.

AACC vice president Melissa Beardmore asked the council to pass the operating budget as Pittman introduced it, but also requested the council restore $1.4 million for upgrades to the school’s information technology systems.

Libraries chief executive officer Skip Auld asked the council to consider money to offset lost revenue due to library closures and three additional positions.