Across two budget hearings this month, residents urged the Anne Arundel County Council to consider raises for school nurses and library staff similar to those slated for teachers in the upcoming fiscal year.
County Executive Steuart Pittman’s proposed fiscal 2024 budget of $2.14 billion includes fully funding Anne Arundel County Public Schools’ request for teacher raises and exceeds state requirements from the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education overhaul. The increased investment in education necessitates an increase in property taxes, Pittman said, which, if approved, would be set at 98 cents per $100 of assessed property value, an increase of 4.7 cents.
Many of the teachers who spoke at the hearings in Annapolis and at Crofton High School over the past two weeks asked the County Council to adopt the budget, which includes a cost-of-living raise for teachers from 6% to 8%. Meanwhile, school nurses and library staff requested higher salaries, arguing they are underpaid relative to colleagues in similarly sized surrounding counties.
“I am a teacher who has been wrestling with the idea of whether or not I should just consider retiring earlier than I would like to,” said Anne Arundel County Public school teacher Cathy Guay. “After meeting Dr. [Superintendent Mark] Bedell, [seeing] the listening tour he had, that decision is getting harder now. I have a lot more hope.”
Guay pointed out that there were years the teachers did not get the step and pay increases they were promised but they stayed in the county out of a sense of loyalty, though they knew they could make more money in other counties. She and other teachers said their next few years hinge on how this budget turns out.
The county is also continuing to see record-high turnover among school nurses, said Acting Health Officer Tonii Gedin at the May 3 board of health meeting.
Of the 350 school health staff members the county employs, 139 have left so far this school year, she said. Last year 109 left throughout the year.
While the school board requested funding for 403 positions, Pittman only included salaries for 208, saying he and the school system agreed to fund the positions they thought they could find staff to fill. However, school health staff said they will continue to have a hard time filling certain positions if they don’t increase benefits.
“It is a constant churn that takes a lot of work to keep our schools fully staffed,” Gedin said.
Jenny Corkill, a school nurse with Anne Arundel County School Health Services, asked that the council advocate for funding for merit benefits for school health nurses and health assistants. She and the other school health professionals who testified said they feel their jobs are viewed as less critical and complex than they really are. It’s more than just Band-Aids and ice packs, they said.
“We case manage students with complex medical conditions, attend to emergencies in the school building and provide care to rising numbers of students experiencing mental health concerns,” Corkill said.
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While the health department is ramping up recruiting efforts, Corkill and other school health professionals who testified explained that the county simply needs to invest more in these staff members in order to remedy the turnover. Nurses and health assistants are contract employees, Corkill said, meaning they are not paid for holidays, designated sick leave, provided retirement benefits or offered step or merit increases.
Several Anne Arundel County Public Library staff members also requested higher pay and explained some of them need to work multiple jobs to make ends meet.
Gloria Harberts, southern area regional manager of the Anne Arundel County Public Library, explained the county is one of the lowest paying for librarians.
“Our staff aren’t being paid competitively or even fairly,” Harberts said. “Some are even leaving to go to nearby Prince George’s, Baltimore and Howard counties who pay significantly more.”
A library associate salary is paid $41,000 in Anne Arundel County while the same position pays around $50,000 in Prince George’s County and in Baltimore County it’s $47,000, Harberts said. Library branch managers experience an even steeper disparity, she said. Starting pay is $65,000 in Anne Arundel, around $76,000 in Prince George’s and around $92,000 in Baltimore County.
Pittman’s proposed budget only includes $485,000 of the $2.9 million that would be necessary to put Anne Arundel on a par with surrounding jurisdictions’ compensation levels, Harberts said. She requested the budget include at least $500,000 more for librarian compensation.
Over the next few weeks, the County Council will amend the budget before taking a final vote in mid-June.