Some Baltimore County School Classes Will Get Bigger But Teachers Will Keep Jobs

Some teachers in Baltimore County may have to move to different schools next year as a result of reduced staffing positions, but every teacher is guaranteed a job, school officials told the Tuesday night.

Board members questioned school officials specifically about high school staffing, which is expected to shift the most under a The budget cuts 196 positions.

Donald Peccia, assistant superintendent of human resources, said the standard for class sizes at high schools will increase by two students from 18.9 to 20.9.

Principals now must look at their projected enrollment and compare that with staffing needs. Teachers who are considered "excess" will have the option to move to other schools, Peccia said.

“They may have to change schools, but they will be guaranteed a job in their teaching area,” he said. “That is no different than what we do each year.”

As the end of the school year draws closer, more positions may become open through attrition, as teachers resign or retire, Peccia said.

Schools may also receive an influx of students over the summer or the start of the school year, which could lead to some teachers staying in their assigned schools if they are needed.

“The first student for 2011-2012 has not arrived yet,” he said.

Schools Superintendent Joe A. Hairston also said the alternative to freezing the 196 positions would have been to not offer teacher raises this year, which cost $15 million.

“The only place you could take that from is the sacrifice we could have made from teacher salaries,” he said.

Cheryl Bost, president of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County, said after the meeting that county and school officials encouraged the union to negotiate that package, which also included significant savings in health costs to the county.

The same raise is in place for all school system employees, she said, not just teachers.

Bost also said she isn’t certain that the number of teachers leaving before the end of the year will balance out the staffing losses.

“If you have people retiring in elementary, they’re not going to go to the high school level,” she said.

School officials are also looking at ways of offering more cost-efficient Advanced Placement classes, some of which have small enrollments. That could include having distance learning options, said Peccia.

The minimum standard number for AP classes offered per school in Baltimore County is 12—a number that school officials said won’t change. The standard for recent years has been 17, however, and some schools offer as many as 23.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, Board President Earnest Hines said the board would revisit the school system policy known as , which governs the use of school facilities by outside community groups.

Hines said the board’s policy committee would re-examine the rule.

Several members of the public spoke on Rule 1300 again at the end of the meeting, and said they supported the board’s position.

But they also said that time was running out because many community groups are already planning events for next year.

“So many hours have been wasted in fighting something that’s a non-issue in other counties,” said Leslie Weber, a parent at .