February 8th, 2016 by WCBC Radio
Although the Allegany County Public School system has seen a decline student population, because of state law the Allegany County commissioners anticipate providing more than $300,000 above last year’s allocation. Jason Bennett, director of finance for the county, said at a recent work session that thirty million dollars of the county budget instantly goes to education because of the way some of the state laws are set up- referring to maintenance of effort. Maryland requires each county to maintain a level of funding for its schools as calculated by a formula based on student enrollment. In addition to maintenance of effort, counties are required to keep up with state averages for education funding. Because a number of other counties have increased education funding, Allegany County will also be required to increase funding to its school system by 1.7 percent starting in fiscal year 2017…
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