Let's start by clarifying: Is it really $200,000? No, it's $194,704 but rounding up is no big deal, right?
Where did MCPS get the $194,704? Take a look at the check shown in the image above. It appears that the money that is now being used to pay consultants is the $194,703.56 royalty payment from Wireless Generation that MCPS received in August of 2009! The Parents' Coalition obtained a copy of this check through a Maryland Public Information Act request.
Imagine, Superintendent Jerry Weast has been holding on to these funds for 10 months. All through the budget crisis discussions, rallies, media coverage, public comment, hearings, worksessions, threatened litigation, votes...
The whole time teachers, students and parents were begging for funding for classroom positions, Superintendent Weast was holding on to a pot of unspent cash that could have put 2 to 3 teachers back in classrooms.
And he has waited until the very last second of FY10 to reveal this money! Because, you see, Superintendent Weast needs to obtain the consent of the County Council to move this money from one State budget category to another. So in the last week of the fiscal year the money will appear on the Council's calendar.
The Council will place the spending of this money on their calendar today. Public comment will be held on June 29th AND the Council will vote to move the money on June 29th.
The Montgomery County Council members, who continually lament that they have no control over the school system's budget will vote unanimously (just a wild guess) to move this money from the MCPS Entrepreneurial Fund to the MCPS Operating Budget to pay for consultants, not teachers.
The County Council will approve of the Superintendent holding on to royalties from a private company for 10 months, and will approve of using the funds to pay for consultants for a project (online curriculum) for another private company, Pearson Education, Inc.
Could the Council say no to moving these funds to pay for consultants? Of course, but they won't. They have no oversight over the spending of MCPS - or so they say.
Want to comment on this? Call (240) 777-7803 to sign up to give public comment to the full Council on June 29th at 1:30 PM or contact your Councilmembers directly by phone or e-mail.
spending the money in FY2010, before the spending of that money was appropriated, and then spending it before it was presented to the council would appear to have been illegal.
ReplyDeleteBob Astrove
Education Articles, Section 5-105
§ 5-105. Expenditure of revenues; transfers within and between major categories [Amendment applicable to fiscal years beginning July 1, 1997].
(a) Expenditure of revenues.- All revenues received by a county board shall be spent by the board in accordance with the major categories of its annual budget as provided under § 5-101 of this subtitle.
(b) Transfers; reports.-
(1) (i) A transfer may be made within the major categories without recourse to the county commissioners or county council except that a report of the transfer shall be submitted to the county commissioners or county council within 15 days after the end of each month.
(ii) A report under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph shall include a narrative summary that clearly indicates each transfer.
(2) A transfer between major categories shall be made only with the approval of the county commissioners or county council.
(3) If the county commissioners or county council fail to take action on a request for transfer between major categories within 30 days after the receipt of a written request substantiating the transfer, the failure to take action constitutes approval.
(4) A county board shall submit to the county governing body a report within 15 days after the end of each month if during that month the county board takes any action that would commit the county board to spend more for the current fiscal year in any major category than the amount approved in the annual budget for that category.
(5) A report under paragraph (4) of this subsection shall include a narrative explanation of the action taken, indicating any request for transfer between categories that may become necessary for the fiscal year as a result of the action.
(c) Expenditure of nonlocal funds received after adoption of budget.- Nonlocal funds received by a county board after the adoption of the annual budget by the county fiscal authority may be spent by the county board if the county fiscal authority is notified and approves of:
(1) The source and amount of the funds; and
(2) The manner of spending the funds.