ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

GUILD MORTGAGE MALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK:

GUILD MORTGAGE FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK:

Chris Harris

BOHEMIA MANOR BASEBALL

Bohemia Manor Sophomore Chris Harris had a week so good that Coach Ray Polaski nominated him twice for Athlete of the Week.

On Wednesday, Chris pitched a complete game shutout (3-0) against Elkton. Chris gave up only 2 hits while striking out 11 batters.

On Friday, also against Elkton, Chris went 3-3 batting with 1 BB, 2 RBI and 1 run.

Josalyn Mcmillan

RISING SUN TIGERS SOFTBALL

Rising Sun Junior Josalyn McMillan went 6-12 batting this week hitting three doubles and four RBIs.

Josalyn drove in two runs on Thursday nights to help the Tigers get ahead of the Indians after the team had been trailing for most of the game.

Cecil County Sports Schedule

BASEBALL

CCPS Community:

I want to send a sincere thank you to our community members for listening to our leadership’s call last month to advocate for our requested CCPS budget. Unfortunately, despite the inaccurate and hostile public rhetoric that you might have heard, as well as County Executive Danielle Hornberger’s misleading press releases and her 2024 Proposed Budget in Brief, the school system has once again been underfunded by the county. Here are some facts: u For the third year in a row, CE Hornberger has chosen to fund CCPS at Maintenance of Effort (MOE), which is the legally required bare minimum for our operating budget; it is also the lowest amount in her tenure. Specifically, we are receiving $700k less than what we received last year, for a total of $6.4M less than what we requested for our FY24 operating budget from the county. u Despite receiving an increase from the State for our operating budget, the county’s portion does not allow us to meet our operating needs. The Blueprint legislation requires us to increase spending on very specific initiatives, and it changes the way CCPS must budget funds and report the related expenditures. Blueprint legislation requires state and local funding to implement the required components of the plan. Additionally, like all organizations, CCPS is seeing significant cost increases in areas such as salaries and fixed charges for all of our teachers and staff, health care, utilities, energy costs, inflation, transportation, and technology. Our budget and long-term plan also clearly has calculated annual teacher salary increases so that we will meet the Blueprint’s minimum salary requirements by July 2026, avoiding a huge increase in one year.

The “Local Fiscal Impact of Implementing the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future” published by the Department of Legislative Services in January 2022, in part, identifies the responsibility of local governments for their share of education funding, and states that “MOE represents the minimum amount of local funding that must be provided for local school systems; it is a floor, not a ceiling.” u The 2024 Proposed Budget in Brief prepared by CE Hornberger states that her budget supports the top small capital priorities on the Board of Education’s list for FY2024. This is NOT true. The CE denied our top small cap priority–the Rising Sun Elementary School (RSES) parking lot–despite it being a significant community safety issue that causes dangerous traffic on a county road (and despite already having the design completed). Additionally, another item that she chose–the Perryville Field House–was NOT on our FY24 small cap request (and has not been since FY21). Why is our CE interested in funding a project that was not even in our request instead of a known safety issue? Finally, the county is only funding half of the safe and secure entrances at RSES and Conowingo Elementary while relying on Board of Education funding for the other half. u The North East Middle School/High School construction project remains on an unrealistic timeline due to insufficient county funding, and will ultimately cost taxpayers more. Large cap projects like this are typically funded through bonds. For the new NEMS/HS, the CE has decided to partially fund this using operating fund balance money (that could otherwise be used for operating costs, such as positions), specifically $3.3M per year (for three years). A remaining $7.5M is being funded through bonds. Additionally, instead of investing more money now to result in a more realistic timeline for completion, the county is extending it to a 7-year project, making it $10M more expensive in the long-run. While the State is increasing their contribution in order to speed up the process (and be finished by at least FY27), the county is not scheduled to finish paying for this project until FY29. We will never be able to sustain necessary future school construction projects if we continue to follow this timeline. u The CE can give us funds through the $10 million “education lockbox” that she established. We could certainly use a portion now to help assist with classroom sizes, as outlined in our original budget request. This “one time” contribution will not cover long-term education funding related to the Blueprint as stated. (Also note that there was an additional $14 million set aside for CCPS in FY21 (as listed in the county’s FY21 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report)--yet CCPS never received this.)

CCPS has been transparent about the large increase in state funding for FY24, and this revenue has been explicitly included in every budget presentation. Our line-by-line budget request clearly outlined all of our operational costs without sacrificing the resources that our students need and deserve.

After years of cutting positions across all levels due to lack of adequate funding from our county (despite a record level of county fund balance), it is clearly taking its toll. I fear that the lack of investment in our county resources will continue to have negative long-term consequences for our staff, our students, their families, and our entire county.

We appreciate your support to help us continue to advocate for the funding we need to serve all of our students–who have more complex and intense needs than ever. We ask that you please sustain this positive momentum and energy; continue to reach out to our county officials with your stories and your stance. I also am happy to provide accurate figures and facts if you want more details.

Sincerely,

Diana Hawley

President,

Board

of Education of Cecil County County Executive Hornberger’s proposed budget must be approved by the County Council. The Council can not add to the CCPS budget without taking away from another department, nor can they reduce it because it is already at the lowest possible level. The County Council budget hearing is on Thursday, May 18, 2023, at 7:00pm at Elkton High School.

Moments In Time

The History Channel

* On May 6, 1527, the Renaissance ended with the Sack of Rome by German troops as part of an ongoing conflict between the Habsburg Empire and the French Monarchy. German troops killed over 4,000 Romans, imprisoned the pope, and looted works of art and libraries. An entire year passed before order was restored.