In a letter released late Thursday, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz told state legislators that restoring the number of teacher positions to this year's level "does not appear to be possible."
Members of the county delegation to the General Assembly had asked that additional funds they had worked to secure for the county schools in next year's state budget go to restoring 196 teacher positions that the school system had cut from its proposed budget.
In a two-page letter, Kamenetz said restoring all of the positions would cost $15.8 million, far more than the additional $6.8 million the county was due to receive. In addition, he said, the school system underestimated health care costs for school system employees by about $9 million, which must now be added to the budget.
Kamenetz said the county budget is still being prepared, but given several factors, it would be difficult to add positions to the proposed budget.