The Anne Arundel County School Board is stuck with a $437 million operating budget that parents have complained cuts important people and programs, but that the County Council is sure to reduce an additional $10 million to $15 million.
Michael A. Pace, the board president, said yesterday that county revenue estimates show that the council will be able to give the board between $422 million and $427 million at best. The figures leave the board, which is to vote tonight, in a quandary, he said.
"Does the board make cuts in sending its budget over?" Mr. Pace said. "Or does the board say 'Our responsibility is to put forth a budget we believe will meet education needs, and Anne Arundel County if you feel you have to cut it, you cut it?' Either way, we can't ignore the reality of the revenue."
Despite the revenue picture, parents already have complained about what Superintendent Carol S. Parham didn't put in the budget:
* $1.1 million for 21 positions, including some in the highest echelons
* $180,000 for adult basic education, a service used by about 500 people
* $100,000 for drown-proofing, a program taught to all fifth-graders
* $210,000 for seven school nurses, needed to help the county meet a state mandate to have a registered nurse available to all schools.
"The only things we're really frowning upon are the drown-proofing program being dropped, and we have some questions about the staff members whose jobs are being deleted," said Rita Lowman, president of the Anne Arundel County Council of PTAs.
"Dr. Eleanor Harris' position is one of our top concerns. She's a parent liaison. It's taken years for us to get a trusting rapport with the Board of Education, and it's been achieved because of her," Mrs. Lowman said.
Dr. Harris, administrative assistant to the superintendent, holds one of the most visible of the high-level jobs Dr. Parham cut.