Schools

School System Is Hiring, Parents Still Concerned About Changes to Facilities Policy

The Baltimore County Board of Education discussed new jobs and Rule 1300 at its Tuesday meeting.

Despite budget cuts, Baltimore County Public Schools will be able to hire some special education teachers, librarians and guidance counselors for the fall because more teachers retired or resigned at the end of the fiscal year than expected.

Donald Peccia, assistant superintendent of human resources for the school system, told the Board of Education Tuesday night that his office received an additional 129 retirements or resignations in the last month in addition to the 215 reported at May's board meeting. 

In the school system's for the fiscal year starting July 1, the system froze 196 teaching positions.

Find out what's happening in Catonsvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The school system is hiring librarians, guidance counselors, as well as elementary and secondary special education teachers, Peccia said.

The Teachers Association of Baltimore County has said that the reduction in teaching positions mandated by budget cuts would be felt mostly at the high school level, as previously reported by .

Find out what's happening in Catonsvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Also at Tuesday's meeting, some parents and community groups said they were still concerned about the proposed changes to , which governs how the school system allows school facilities to by used by community groups.

Some of the included streamlining the application and appeal process for outside groups. Based on feedback shared with the school board, however, PTA groups are not sure the proposed changes will improve the process.

One of the proposed changes allows for groups of less than 50 to forego providing proof of insurance to rent facilities. Parents pointed out that many groups greater than 50 will still have trouble meeting that requirement.

"Adults meeting once a month in a cafeteria is not any riskier than all of us meeting here," said Leslie Weber, president of Loch Raven High School PTA.

A letter sent to the school board from the coalition of community and PTA groups questioned how the number 50 was determined.

Nancy Ostrow, president of the Baltimore County Council of PTAs, said she would have preferred that the issues be addressed at the community level.

"Many of the concerns mentioned tonight could have been better addressed by a task force," she said.

The school board will vote on the revised policy in July.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here