The Anne Arundel County Council voted Monday night to reject allowing the Board of Education to transfer funds allocated for student transportation services to pay for additional mental health professionals.
This vote, which was 4-3, determined whether the school board would shift $745,100 of its roughly $1.3 billion budget. The transfer would have replaced seven administrative positions in the transportation department with five school counselors, a school psychologist and a school climate teacher specialist focused on restorative practices.
The board can still add mental health professionals but cannot do so with funding allocated for student transportation services.
Council Chair Allison Pickard, D-Glen Burnie, voiced concern that the council was overstepping its role by denying the board’s funds transfer. But Councilman Nathan Volke, R-Pasadena, who supported the resolution to reject the board’s budget amendment, emphasized the council’s role.
“Board of Education, we’re the final fiscal authority, next time just do it the way we sent it to you,” Volke said.
The resolution to reject the budget amendment was brought forth by Councilwoman Lisa Brannigan Rodvien, D-Annapolis. Her chief concern was that she felt the board was pitting the needs of a flawed transportation system against the mental health of students, and emphasized the need for reform within the county school’s transportation system.
“My resolution is basically saying to the school board, we do not want you to use the transportation funding to fund these mental health positions,” said Rodvien.
The resolution was supported by Rodvien, Volke, Councilwoman Sarah Lacey, D-Jessup, and Councilwoman Jessica Haire, R-Edgewater.
The Board of Education will have to adopt the budget as the council intended or devise a way to redistribute funds without compromising the council’s investment in school transportation.
Though President Michelle Corkadel appreciated the added $1.48 million by the council to the school budget, she said coronavirus has created challenges for students. Both transportation and mental health services can improve necessary services for students but Corkadel wants to see further investment in mental health, she said.
“I hope the decision the council made to choose transportation over mental health is not indicative of the years to come,” said Corkadel, speaking specifically as the District 7 board member.
“I look forward to working with council and the county executive in the coming months… and the 2021-2022 budget to ensure that mental health has not been abandoned.”
The board’s budget is divided into 14 sections. The board has the autonomy to use funds within each of those sections at its discretion, but to move funds between sections, it must receive approval from the County Council. Student transportation services and student health services are listed under different parts of the Arundel County Public Schools’ budget, so the board had to receive permission from the council to redistribute funds between these two sections.
The board can reallocate funds within the student health services section of their budget to add additional mental health professionals or, with council approval, move funds from one of the other 14 sections of the budget.
According to director of policy and communications for Anne Arundel County Chris Trumbauer, the County Council earlier this year passed an amendment to the school board’s budget adding community ambassadors, additional mental health professionals and funding for transportation, which the board of education voted to amend on June 17. According to Trumbauer, it is unusual for a proposed budget change to come up when entering a new fiscal year.
Rodvien presented an additional, toothless resolution seeking support from council members in asking the board to use funding from a portion of the budget outside of transportation. The resolution did not pass, with a 3-4 vote.
Pickard, a former school board member, said she couldn’t support the resolution because it went beyond stating the importance of both transportation and mental health and placed undue burden on the board to find a new way to fund additional mental health professionals.
“I’m very concerned that we’re just simplifying this whole process,” Pickard said. “I can take a constituent emailing me and say, go find [the funding] under the mattress, but as a leader and as an elected official, I can’t go ask another public body to just go find it in the mattress.”
The council also passed a bill restricting residential rent increases of more than 3% until at least 120 days following the conclusion of Gov. Larry Hogan’s statewide emergency declaration, which came as a response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The legislation passed after a proposed amendment to shorten the grace period from 120 to 30 days was defeated. The restriction does not apply to lease renewals that have already passed.
The legislation was first introduced as an emergency bill in May by Councilman Andrew Pruski, D-Gambrills, after he said he had a constituent facing a 10% rent increase, but failed to pass without support from one of the council’s three Republicans. The legislation passed Monday as a regular bill with support from the council’s four Democrats.
