About 150 people turned out yesterday to hear Baltimore schools chief Andres Alonso explain his plan for cutting $110 million from the central office while redistributing $70 million to schools and giving principals more autonomy.
The school system is faced with a $50 million shortfall, and Alonso's budget calls for cutting about 300 central office positions. He is also moving to decentralize the system by giving principals greater decision-making power and more cash to run their schools.
Alonso spoke before an attentive audience at yesterday's meeting at Frederick Douglass High School in West Baltimore. After his presentation, the attendees broke off into groups to ask questions, which were compiled by school officials. Answers to the most frequently asked questions will be posted on the school system's Web site and available at schools before a public hearing on the school budget that's scheduled for Wednesday.
Under the new structure implemented by Alonso, principals will have the opportunity to develop their leadership potential, using discretionary money to craft budgets for their schools. They will have at their disposal an average of $9,100 per student, with no strings attached to about $5,600. Under the old system, principals only had $90 per pupil in discretionary money.
After Alonso's presentation, Upton resident Jeanette Snowden, the mother of a ninth-grader at Edmondson-Westside High School, expressed support for greater autonomy for principals. "There's going to be more decision-making at the level of the school. That's OK with me. That's to be celebrated," she told a reporter.
Debbie Demery, mother of an eighth-grader at Dr. Carter G. Woodson Elementary-Middle School in Cherry Hill, said after her small group meeting that she hoped principals would be able to make changes during the school year as needs evolved. "Once the budget is submitted, will principals be able to stray from that budget?" she asked.
Demery also wondered whether the money would be monitored on a regular basis and what would happen to any money that was not spent.
Terry Patton, principal of Franklin Square Elementary, asked how money would follow students if they move to a different school during the school year.
"How will the data be double-checked?" asked LaToya Sims-Walker, the president of a parents group at Harlem Park Elementary School.
Janice Cole, a military studies teacher at Maritime Industries Academy, asked in another session how money would be spent on facilities, particularly at newly formed schools.
Sherrie Salmon of Pimlico said after her group session that she was pleased that the central office staff was decreasing. "I always thought North Avenue was too top-heavy," she said. However, Salmon, mother of a sixth-grader at Mount Royal Elementary-Middle, wondered how remaining jobs would be structured.
During the breakout session, she also asked whether principals would manage cafeteria food and wondered about the future of the money offered as incentives to students who reach targets on state tests.
"What happens if the money runs out?" Salmon asked.
liz.kay@baltsun.com