My Public Comment at the CCPS Budget Hearing

Lisa’s public comments at the FY27 CCPS Budget Hearing

Thursday, January 29, 206 — I attended the BOE FY27 Budget Work Session and gave public comment at the Public Hearing on the proposed budget.

You can watch me give my comments in the link or read them here:

My name is Lisa Maisano. I have 3 children in CCPS and I am also a candidate for the Board of Education. I ask you to please bring a request to the Commissioners for more funding for our schools. We are not asking for luxuries. We are asking for maintaining adequate resources and programs.

I support asking the Commissioners for funding to keep Outdoor School. For a county that relishes its agricultural history and deep ties to the land that supports us, Outdoor School has been a proud highlight in CCPS’ history for 50 years. Last year we had a huge outpouring of support in favor of saving Outdoor School and this year it’s vital that we continue to offer programs that are so important to the community.

Additionally, I wanted to share my thoughts about the safety concerns that have been raised about Hashawha. In a world of increasing screens, where kids are pressured to maintain a presence on social media, and desire to find their place in it all, we should help them to reconnect with and appreciate the natural world. Even though my family is already involved with scouting, I see the benefit of Outdoor School for all students. I personally have stayed in a cabin there on a scouting trip recently and felt that the facilities are both safe and satisfactory. There are acceptable risks we all take every day between getting in cars or playing sports and to me, attending Outdoor School comes with acceptable risk.

Overall, I’m very concerned with the budget situation that CCPS is in. Year after year, because we are arguably the leanest school system in the state, we are faced with more cuts and are less positioned to weather the cuts than other jurisdictions. The cost of everything has gone up and so have the expenses that CCPS is facing. Inflation has hit our schools hard. In addition to eliminating Outdoor School, the proposed budget includes cutting 15 teacher positions. If that happens, what will we be forced to cut next year? Elementary chorus, band, and orchestra… or maybe high school athletics and extracurriculars? I’m frustrated because when does it stop? When do the people of Carroll County say no, enough is enough. We value education and the opportunities our school system provides. And we want the school system to be adequately funded so it can continue to operate in the way that we expect. It’s important that the county and the commissioners understand what the needs of the school system really are. If we continue to let our budget get hollowed out, more and more of the programs that define us are at risk. So, I ask that you bring a request to the Commissioners to fund the school system as it is now. Thank you.