Schools receive ultimate ‘no’

County commissioners not persuaded by large crowd to increase WCPS funding

By Jack Chavez Staff Writer

(June 9, 2023) The county public schools budget is officially set, and it’s exactly what the new Worcester County Commissioners majority has said for months it could be — flat.

The commissioners passed the Worcester Board of Education’s

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budget on a 5-to-2 vote at roughly $100 million in maintenance-of-effort funding and $759,000 for the county’s required share of teacher pensions on Tuesday.

Commissioners Diana Purnell and Joe Mitrecic opposed the measure.

The approved framework is not a penny more than what the county is legally obligated by the state Department of Education to provide to its school system. That means it is now on the school board to determine how to come up with the roughly $4.5 mil- lion it asked for to pay for staff and contractor salary increases, among other things.

At the core of the budget discussion was a dispute over the accessibility of specific expenses in the school system’s annual budget.

While repeated assurances from both sides that the relationship is still healthy, or that everyone is cooperating as best as possible, they have exchanged many pointed words. One side harped on the unprecedented

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