LIVE BLOG: Baltimore County Schools Budget Hearing

UPDATE(4:08 p.m.)— Budget hearing concludes. Council breaks for 10 minutes before coming back for budget deliberations.

(4:06 p.m.)— Michael Sines fans himself with his budget information as he tells the council that BCPS hopes to have AC in Ridgely Middle School by September.

"We don't control the weather but we'll do the best we can," Sines said, adding that ten schools slated for air conditioning will have it two weeks before the start of the next school year.

(4:06 p.m.)— Last update is on air conditioning in schools. A fitting question since it is about 500 degrees in this room.

(4:04 p.m.)— Sines said it is adjusting its requests for high school renovations because of the economy.

(4:01 p.m.)— There are 170 school facilities in the county. About $1 billion was spent upgrading all elementary and middle school buildings.

(4:00 p.m.)— There are 13 land bank sites totalling nearly 340 acres around the county. Some are no longer viable because of changes in environmental law or shifts in population.

(3:57p.m.)— There is about $1.4 million in the BCPS budget for site acquisition.

(3:55p.m.)— Councilman Huff asks if there are any plans to alleviate overcrowding at Hereford High School.

Michael Sines said the school remains on the list of schools on the capital improvement plan.

"We're adjusting to economic conditions but it's still a viable project."

(3:52p.m.)— Councilwoman Vicki Almond asks about STEM program in northwest. School official said it might not be one building but something placed in possibly two buildings with coordinated curriculum.

(3:50p.m.)— Councilman David Marks asks BCPS about Stoneleigh expansion and where students will go and said parents would prefer trailers outside Stoneleigh Elementary rather than moving students to Dumbarton Middle School.

(3:47p.m.)— There are no plans to change boundary lines in the coming year, BCPS officials say.

(3:45p.m.)— Olszewski asks about changing school boundaries to balance schools that under capacity and adjacent to schools that are over capacity.

"I know it's not very popular but it's something we should take a look at."

(3:43p.m.)— A number of parents are here to listen for comments about Stoneleigh Elementary expansion overcrowding along the York Road corridor.

(3:40p.m.)— Now up, the capital budget of nearly $105 million.

(3:38p.m.)— Councilman David Marks asks about the number of homeless students in the system. Hairston said he would try to get the council an official estimate of the number of students.

Councilman Tom Quirk asks about the number of free and reduced lunches. Hairston said when he came to the county 26 percent of the students were receiving free and reduced lunches. Now it's 46 percent.

Hairston attributes the economy and growing number of immigrants.

(3:34p.m.)— Hairston: Here is a county that is extremely diverse.

Some want strict discipline and others may want to be more progressive.

We take a great deal of pride in what we've been able to do. Things are changing in society and we recognize that.

Another school official says "every case is handled on a case by case basis" and there is a right to appeal to board of education and appeal to a school official based on mitigation.

(3:31p.m.)— Olszewski is asking about disciplinary issues and if the school will look at issues on a case by case basis rather than a one-size fits all no tolerance policy.

(3:28p.m.)— BCPS official says state high school assessments for students "is nearly a moot point" because county students exceed requirements.

(3:26p.m.)— There is one charter school in the county. Next year is the last year of its contract. BCPS plans on reviewing the school at the end of the term.

To date, no other applications for charter schools are pending in the county.

(3:25p.m.)— The proposed budget includes about $30,000 for a virtual learning classroom at Chesapeake High School in Essex.

(3:24p.m.)—Frederick County is one of four that use the cameras already.

(3:22p.m.)— Olszewski said the state law could be problematic because the bus camera photos would not identify the location of the violation and that could be a problem in court.

A school system lobbyist agrees.

There are cameras inside almost all school buses.

(3:21p.m.)— School officials said state law only authorizes the use of the cameras. The council will have to pass legislation authorizing their use.

Olszewski asks about injuries related to people running the bus stop lights.

School officials say the county "has been fortunate" that there have been no injuries.

(3:20p.m.)— Cost of the cameras is estimated at $2,300 per bus.

(3:18p.m.)— Coming up: Hairston and school officials will answer questions about installing cameras on school buses to catch violators.

(3:17p.m.)— Mike Sines, head of facilities for BCPS said schools are doing $264,000 of work under BGE lighting program.

The projected energy savings are $69,000 a year.

"Obviously the payback is very quick."

(3:15p.m.)— Next up is a discussion about energy use audits.

(3:13p.m.)— Councilman Todd Huff: The craft shows and community meetings have been going on for a long time. You all shut them down.

If you've been doing this in the past, wouldn't you have a cost analysis of maintaining these facilities?

Prumo responds that BCPS has done no formal study of costs.

(3:11p.m.)— Olszewski asks why the council can't see the policy in advance.

Hairston responds: "You're talking about something that is 18 hours old."

Olszewski: "This is a very important issue we are trying to resolve within our communities."

(3:10p.m.)—Michelle Prumo, Hairston's chief of staff, said board should see full policy in a week and will be online May 19 and available for comment until June 19.

Changes include:

• Groups of 50 will not need insurance.
• For profit groups can apply.
• Outside groups can contract with third party vendors.
• There will be an appeal process for denials.

Prumo said there is no cost estimate yet but additional use does mean increased cost in maintaining an aging school building system.

(3:05p.m.)— Next up is the discussion about the use of school facilities known as Rule 1300.

(3:03p.m.)— Fifteen other schools did not make AYP in 2010 including three magnet schools. Ten of those schools are located geographically on the eastside of the county.

(3:02p.m.)— The budget contains $210,000 in money for schools like Loch Raven Technical Academy and Golden Ring Middle School — two schools that have failed to make AYP for the last five years

(2:59p.m.)—Board member Meg O'Hare just walked in and sat down next to me. Friday she told me she was informed by Gov. Martin O'Malley that she would not be appointed to a second term on the board.

(2:57p.m.)—County now asking about schools not making Adequate Yearly Progress defined in No Child Left Behind "which is based solely on student performance. Period."

(2:54p.m.)— The budget also contains $8.9 million in federal stimulus money that is now gone.

(2:52p.m.)— The county schools budget contains $6.3 million in federal Race to the Top money.

(2:51p.m.)— Olszewski (to Hairston): "I think we're all feeling the crunch."

(2:49p.m.)— Council Chairman John A. Olszewski Sr. asks Hairtson if they have excess budget, would they reconsider filling the teaching vacancies.

Hairston: "I'd like to remind the council we have a looming 2013 budget that is predicted to be worse than this one. It's too premature to make any decision."

"We put $15 million into the budget just to hold on to teachers

(2:47 p.m.)—"We have an increase in administration but it's not actually an increase in the budget."

(2:45 p.m.) — Anotehr school official is now talking to the council about how it calculates the number of administrative positions.

The state "decides how many positions to count."

Official says she wants council to "compare apples to apples."

"We have a lot of fruit."

(2:42 p.m.) There are a total of 75 employees in all of the county schools system that are not in a union.

(2:41 p.m) School officials say they have 220 retirements and expected resignations — more than the 194 positions to be cut through attrition.

"There are no pink slips."

(2:40 p.m.)— First up is the reduction of about 200 teaching positions, mostly through attrition.

Hairston said he has made adjustments reducing three deputy superintendents to one and eliminating other administrative positions for "a total of four administrative positions that no longer exist."

(2:36 p.m.)—Earnest Hines, school board president, and Meg O'Hare, a board member, are not present. Both learned this week they will be replaced in July.

(2:32p.m.)— Waiting for hearing to start. Hairston is seated at the table. County auditor will recommend no cuts to the schools system's $1.3 billion budget.

(2:21p.m.) The County Council prepares to discussion the Baltimore County Public Schools $1.3 billion budget with Superintendent Joe A. Hairston.

The biggest issue likely to be discussed is reducing the number of teachers by about 200 in the coming year.

The hearing is expected to begin around 2:30 p.m. — about 30 minutes earlier than scheduled.