Support Our Schools (SOS), a grassroots advocacy group supporting the needs of Kent County’s school system requested support from the Chestertown Town Council last Monday night.
Local artist and business owner Robbi Behr pitched the Council to support County School Superintendent Dr. Karen Couch’s request for a meeting with Governor Hogan to request additional funding for Kent County Schools. Decreasing enrollment has led to decreases in funding using the per-pupil funding equation currently used, a formula that seriously impacts smaller school systems.
The funding request would be a one-year stop gap unattached to current state and county educational financing mechanisms.
Behr’s overview of current funding shortfalls underscored a need for community engagement and support at a time when consolidation is not a viable avenue, and funding schools with a declining student population is unsustainable. It is at this impasse, she said, that we face a future that would not attract young families with children despite the fact that testing scores have risen and the quality of Kent County education has eclipsed its past struggles.
Mayor Cerino stated that while the Council has no financial avenue to pursue—it is up to the County—he does support a general statement of support and would be reaching out to Dr. Couch to better understand her goals. The issue will be discussed at a future town council meeting as well.
SOS will be starting a letter-writing campaign with local drop-offs to collect letters, and will be adding instructions on ideas for people to include in their letters on their website www.kcpssos.com (directions to be added soon!). If anyone is inclined to start writing right now, they can mail them to:
SOS
100 S. Queen St.
Chestertown, MD 21620
To contact SOS, email them at [email protected] The SOS Mission Statement may be seen here: sos-mission-statement
Mark Dell Acqua says
I thought that years ago when the Maryland State Lottery became a reality, the fine citizens of Maryland were told
that the profits of such a venture would go to the Maryland school system and that they would lack for nothing. Years
and millions of dollars later it seems that nothing has changed except Maryland now has 2 stadiums and one of which
is used on average about ten times a year by the Ravens. Is there an elected public official out there who would like to
comment about the revenue generated by the MSL and where exactly that money has gone in regards to the public school
system for over the past 20 years? Would they like to comment where all of the money has gone since the inception of the
lottery many years ago?