When I attended the Cecil County Council meeting on March 18 to speak in support of funding the Cecil County Public Schools FY 2015 Budget and specific athletic facility projects at Perryville High School, I had no idea if my actions would accomplish much more than lessening some personal guilt for not having “done more.”

Tuesday night, just two weeks later, I got a first hand lesson on how elected officials from multiple municipalities can make positive things happen and how community members can use their own unique stories and skills to accomplish common goals.

While the process to adequately fund CCPS has just begun, I’m taking this as a sign that we might all be able to pull the same rope and make good things happen faster than we ever imagined.

Elected officials making things happen

Last weekend, Perryville Commissioner Michelle Linkey and Mayor Jim Eberhardt reached out to me to see how they could help and then things really started happening. I honestly didn’t think of contacting town officials because I thought the battle was between the CCPS and Cecil County…shows you what I know.

By Monday night, Council President Robert Hodge toured the school’s track with PHS track coach and teacher Jake Moore and Mr. Eberhardt.

And a lot of work must have happened on Tuesday because by the time I arrived at Tuesday night’s County Council meeting, Mr. Eberhardt had bill 2014-13 in hand. Introduced by Mr. Hodge on behalf of County Executive Tari Moore, the bill would allow replacement of the school’s track to begin after graduation in June. Here’s a link to the bill–“Budget Ordinance FY 2014 – Board of Education – Perryville High School Track Replacement”

Lots of support from PHS families and area residents

Without the overwhelming support from our families and other concerned residents, this wouldn’t have happened. I’m afraid to know exactly how many letters and emails were sent in support of CCPS and PHS in particular but there must have been quite a few. And about 10 members of the community showed up at the County Council meeting, several of whom spoke about their own perspective on the situation.

Next steps towards a new track

While I’m thrilled about the track bill, there is still much to do before that can become a reality. We need a group to attend the April 15 public hearing for the bill and we need those who can’t attend to contact the County Council and Executive to voice their support for the bill (and overall budget funding for CCPS).

Remember, this track replacement is one of many projects that CCPS has asked the council to fund; there are still many facilities and fields that are in dire need of replacement or maintenance.

• Tari Moore–County Executive–[email protected]
• Alan McCarthy–Vice President–[email protected]
• Joyce Bowlsbey–[email protected]
• Michael Dunn–[email protected]
• Diana Broomell–[email protected]
• Robert Hodge–President–[email protected]

Updated 12/12/14

Check out this article about budget planning for FY 2016

Bloated…wasteful…these are words that others in Cecil County have used to describe the Cecil County Public Schools budget. Bloated…wasteful…overused words that can only be spoken by those who haven’t been involved in our local school system in recent years. I can tell you I’ve never seen waste in CCPS spending and I take it a little personally when such unfounded statements are made.

Let’s look at the facts of Cecil County’s funding of education

• The CCPS budget has been flat for the past 5 years ($175.2 million in FY14).
• Cecil County’s contribution to the CCPS budget has been going down for the past few years and only in FY14 has it come back to almost what it was in 2009.
• In 2014, only 42% of the CCPS budget came from Cecil County. The state average is 50%. This is down from the 51% we received in 2001 (state average was 57% then). The county has a history of underfunding CCPS.
• CCPS has reduced 175 positions from 2010-15 for a savings of $12.5 million. A total of $35.5 million has been saved over that time by CCPS with these reductions, changes to health care benefits, and other savings over that time.

Support adequate funding of public education in Cecil County

Let our elected officials know that you value the work of CCPS and encourage them to provide adequate funding of our schools. If not now, when?

What Can You Do?

Contact the County Executive and members of the County Council and encourage them to support the CCPS budget.

• Tari Moore–County Executive–[email protected]
• Alan McCarthy–Vice President–[email protected]
• Joyce Bowlsbey–[email protected]
• Dan Schneckenburger–[email protected]
• George Patchell–[email protected]
• Robert Hodge–President–[email protected]

Source: CCPS FY 2015 Budget Request 

If I had to choose one thing for Perryville High School, which of those three things would it be? Yikes! When I spoke at the Cecil County Council meeting earlier this month, this was the question posed to me by Council President Robert Hodge.

I must’ve looked like a deer in the headlights because he said a few reassuring words to keep me from hyperventilating. Once I found my voice again, I responded with something along the lines of “Turf, because I’m a soccer mom and our soccer team plays on dirt, but the reality is there’s an existing track that will be lost if necessary maintenance isn’t done.”

Track

It’s two weeks later and our track appears to be lost or at least deemed “unfit for use.” Yesterday I was asked where I heard that the track was “condemned” because that term refers to housing and was not the correct term for the current status of the track. Call it whatever you’d like–a winning track team can’t host meets at its home track! I’m sticking with condemned.

Turf

A turf field would be a wonderful addition to our school and our community–imagine the housewarming party we could throw! But I understand that turf is expensive and every high school in the county is deserving. The FY 2015 budget request included a line item of $2.2 million for synthetic fields, an amount that would cover the cost for two schools. I’d hate to be the person who has to choose which schools get turf first. But I’m also hoping it would be as gut wrenching as a parent choosing your favorite child.

I will not attempt to justify the argument for turf with “All the schools in Harford County have turf.” Cecil County isn’t Harford County and I’m glad of that. Do our kids deserve turf? Sure, but that is an expensive proposition. Do we want turf? Of course, but you know what they say, “It’s good to want things.”

So if turf can’t happen in the very near future, I (mostly) understand but then some plan and the necessary funds need to be in place to maintain our existing fields.

Field House

I’ve heard the “We need a field house. They have a field house,” story plenty. Heck, I wasn’t really even sure what a field house was until a few weeks ago. What I do know is that it would be really nice to have appropriate toilet facilities at games. The restrooms in our current concession building are small (Wondering if they meet ADA requirements for accessibility?) and I’ve been told the toilets are prone to overflows. And at last week’s lacrosse games the rest rooms were closed because of concerns over freezing temperatures and ruptured pipes. This meant we had to run all the way around the outside of the building to use the bathroom.

My biggest reason for wanting a field house–equipment storage. Because there aren’t enough locker facilities at Perryville, the school has repurposed two restrooms in the lobby to house students’ equipment bags. Yuck–but what else are they supposed to do?

The FY 2015 budget request included a line item of $2 million for a field house for Perryville. I don’t know what is included in that estimate. And with all the other needs in the county–schools with treacherous gym floors and in need of new roofs–I’d personally have hard time justifying that kind of money for one school in this economy. But a renovation of the existing concession structure would go a long way.

This Isn’t Just About Perryville & It’s Not Just About Sports

Yes, I want the best facilities for my sons and the other students at Perryville High but I also want that for every child in Cecil County. I don’t want this to be a fight to determine which school wins–every school in the county has a list of needs and wants–in order for positive change to happen, we have to work together.

How should we measure the success of our schools? How do tax payers know what return they’re getting on their investment? These are fair questions to ask.

According to data published in the CCPS Board of Education Budget Request for FY 2015, the graduation rates in Cecil County have increased at a rate greater than the state average in nearly all categories. And it’s important to note that these increases happened during a time when CCPS spending was essentially flat.

Four‐Year Cohort Graduation Rate (2010‐2013)

• State ‐ 81.97% to 84.97%  (3.00% increase)
• CCPS ‐ 80.46% to 86.69%  (6.23% increase)

Five‐Year Cohort Graduation Rate (2010‐2012)

• State ‐ 84.57% to 86.32% (1.75% increase)
• CCPS ‐ 82.97% to 86.19% (3.22% increase)

Graduation Rate for Special Education (2010‐2013)

• State ‐ 54.72% to 60.03% (5.31% increase)
• CCPS ‐ 38.52% to 51.26% (12.74% increase)

Graduation Rate for FaRMS (2010‐2013)

• State ‐ 73.70% to 75.81% (2.11% increase)
• CCPS ‐ 80.13% to 79.40% (0.73% decrease)

Graduation Rate for African American Students (Class of 2010 vs. Class of 2013)

• State ‐ 74.02% to 78.26 % (4.24% increase)
• CCPS ‐ 76.81% to 84.72% (7.91% increase)

Graduation Rate for Hispanic/Latino Students (Class of 2010 vs. Class of 2013)

• State ‐ 73.44% to 75.08% (1.64% increase)
• CCPS ‐ 74.47% to 82.76% (8.29% increase)

Graduation Rate for Boys (Class of 2010 vs. Class of 2013)

• State ‐ 78.32% to 81.64% (3.32% increase)
• CCPS ‐ 76.83% to 83.71% (6.88% increase)

Graduation Rate for Girls (Class of 2010 vs. Class of 2013)

• State ‐ 85.75% to 88.38% (2.63% increase)
• CCPS ‐ 84.08% to 89.98% (5.90% increase)

You can read more statistics about Cecil County graduation rates on the Maryland Report Card web site.

What Can You Do?

Contact the County Executive and members of the County Council and encourage them to support the CCPS budget.

• Tari Moore–County Executive–[email protected]
• Alan McCarthy–Vice President–[email protected]
• Joyce Bowlsbey–[email protected]
• Michael Dunn–[email protected]
• Diana Broomell–[email protected]
• Robert Hodge–President–[email protected]

Update 8/8/14: The new track at Perryville High School was completed in July. Click here

The boys’ just walked in from lacrosse practice–today’s rumor at Perryville High is that our track has been condemned and otherwise deemed not suitable for competition. I don’t yet have it in writing or from official sources.

What I do have in writing is the fact that funding for our track is one of 15 small capital projects in the original CCPS budget request that were rejected by the Cecil County Council. The total request was for 17 projects totaling over $7 million. The Cecil County Council has only recommended that 2 of these requests get funded for a total of $1.3 million

Projects on the small capital budget include:

• Track replacement for Perryville High
• Gym floor replacements for Bo Manor High and Conowingo Elementary
• Tennis court resurfacing at Elkton, Rising Sun, and Perryville
• Locker room at North East High

And none of those projects are currently approved for 2015 but I believe CCPS is resubmitting them for consideration.

What Can You Do?

Contact the County Executive and members of the County Council and encourage them to support the CCPS budget.

• Tari Moore–County Executive–[email protected]
• Alan McCarthy–Vice President–[email protected]
• Joyce Bowlsbey–[email protected]
• Michael Dunn–[email protected]
• Diana Broomell–[email protected]
• Robert Hodge–President–[email protected]

Many Cecil County Public Schools and their facilities are in dire need of repair or replacement and, while the school system has had a plan in place to address these issues, the amount of funding from Cecil County has lagged behind that of other jurisdictions in the state.
Cecil County ranks 21st out of 24 Maryland school systems in county and state funding per student

There is a population in the county that has vocally encouraged the County Executive and County Council to continually underfund our school system. 
We need to be just as vocal in our support of CCPS.

Contact the County Executive and members of the County Council and encourage them to support the CCPS budget.

• Tari Moore–County Executive–[email protected]
• Alan McCarthy–Vice President–[email protected]
• Joyce Bowlsbey–[email protected]
• Michael Dunn–[email protected]
• Diana Broomell–[email protected]
• Robert Hodge–President–[email protected]

Welcome to Perryville High School–home of the Panthers. Perryville High School is part of the Cecil County Public School system with an enrollment of 775 students.
The photo above shows an empty stadium but this school and its fields and facilities are an integral part of our town and the surrounding communities it serves. Unfortunately, much of the infrastructure is in need of repair or replacement after years of use.

Needed Stadium Improvements

For now, let’s talk about the facilities in and around our stadium. There are three areas that need maintenance:

• Playing surface
• Track surface
• Concessions & rest rooms

But These Improvements Cost Money–a lot of money

According to the FY 2015 Board of Education Budget Request, the projects above are estimated to cost:

• Track replacement–$250,000
• Field house–$2,000,000
• Synthetic surface (turf)–$1,100,000

And while the best we can hope for in the coming fiscal year may only be the replacement of the track, we need to be vocal about the needs of our schools in order for the board of education to get the necessary funding from the Cecil County Council. We need to be just as vocal in our support of CCPS as those who would rather not provide adequate school funding.

What Can You Do?

Contact the County Executive and members of the County Council and encourage them to support the CCPS budget.

• Tari Moore–County Executive–[email protected]
• Alan McCarthy–Vice President–[email protected]
• Joyce Bowlsbey–[email protected]
• Michael Dunn–[email protected]
• Diana Broomell–[email protected]
• Robert Hodge–President–[email protected]

Perryville High School football team has gone deep into the playoffs the last three years which means they’ve played into November or even December.

Unfortunately, with such late play, the football field ends up being seeded after frost so there is little to no germination. Lacrosse starts early in March so there’s no time to seed before the spring sports season.