Clarification An article in Sunday's Anne Arundel County section on a school funding plan was unclear about the nature of a planned September meeting between the County Council and the school board. Plans call for the meeting to be a workshop, not a public hearing. The public may attend, but no member of the public will be allowed to testify. The Sun regrets the error.
Facing a barrage of concerns and questions from Anne Arundel government officials about budget maneuvering in the county's public school system, education leaders have pulled a $13.9 million funding request to pay for programs that county lawmakers previously deemed unnecessary.
The County Council canceled a special session set for Wednesday to vote on the request. County Executive John R. Leopold and County Auditor Teresa Sutherland opposed the school system's request, and it appeared that the Republican-majority council was lining up against it.
The council and the school board also agreed Friday to meet in September in a public hearing to reconcile their differences.
Several lawmakers and officials in the Leopold administration questioned why education leaders - weeks after the passage of a $869 million schools budget - needed to transfer money to bolster salary increases for a variety of jobs, hire student-data recordkeepers and help pay for a $4.6 million personnel and payroll database and software system.
Some council members disagreed with the school system's desire to deplete a $3.9 million health care fund balance before a final audit for fiscal 2007, which ended June 30.
Taking the request off the table doesn't affect existing school programs.
Although such requests before the council are routine under state law, which requires school officials to get County Council approval when shifting money between certain spending categories, the transfer request stirred trust and communication issues between two bodies that have waged a bitter battle the past few months about how money ought to be spent.
"There has been a great deal of consternation and an equally great deal of misunderstanding about the budget process engaged in by the Board of Education and about the needs of our students," board President Tricia Johnson said in a statement. "Given that there is no pressing need for the Council to act on the request, we feel it is in the best interest of our students, our Board, our county officials, and our citizens to take some time to discuss any concerns thoroughly."
In a letter to county officials July 5, school system officials announced their intention to transfer $13.9 million. Council members had 30 days from that point to vote against it, or it would have gone through. Instead of taking a vote at a regular council session July 16, lawmakers postponed consideration to a special meeting Wednesday, setting up a potential showdown between the two sides.
"If the council voted down the resolution, we become very adversarial with the school board," said council Chairman Ronald C. Dillon Jr., a Pasadena Republican. "If we can reverse this so it's not so adversarial, I think it benefits everyone."ruma.kumar@baltsun.com phill.mcgowan@baltsun.com