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CBS News
5 days ago
- Climate
- CBS News
Harford County Superintendent Bulson prepares for his 8th year of leading the school district
As summer winds down, Harford County Public Schools' teachers and faculty are ramping up for the next school year. Superintendent Dr. Sean Bulson is preparing for his eighth year of leading the district. Dr. Bulson said he has been preparing for the 2025-26 school year since before the previous year ended. "We want people excited, we want them ready to go," he said. Last year, the district made the difficult decision to cut 160 positions in order to fit a tight budget. "There's a million drivers to the budget, and you always have to make hard decisions," Dr. Buslon said. For the upcoming school year, average class sizes are expected to increase by 1 to 2 students. "We do still have some positions we've held in reserve to ensure if we see places where enrollment is changing and classes are getting bigger, we can make some adjustments," Dr. Bulson said. While he admits a slimmer staff is not ideal, some of the other changes for this year will put Harford County students at an advantage. This year, the district will start preparing kids for potential careers as early as middle school. "In middle school, what we're doing a lot of is we're rolling out project-based learning," Dr. Bulson said. "We've been piloting it, but that's ready to go full scale at our schools this year." In past years, the focus has been on career preparedness for high school students. More than 300 students participated in apprenticeships last year. Dr. Bulson said, project-based learning combines subject matter from several different areas into one hands-on project, different from a typical lesson. It allows middle school students to be exposed to several topics in a more interactive setting. "Students really are pressed to make hard decisions early, and in Hartford, we offer a wide range of magnet programs," Dr. Bulson said. "But students in eighth grade have to choose which one to apply to, so they need to have a sense in middle school of the types of things they might be interested in." Also on the docket for this upcoming year, a potential new approach to snow days. "Every time I think about whether it's safe to get to school, we also have to think about those 16- and 17-year-olds with brand new licenses who we're putting on the roads," Dr. Bulson said. This is why Harford County Public Schools typically builds six snow days into the schedule to allow for wiggle room, instead of the three days that are required by the state. This past year, because of snow days, school did not end until June 18. This year, the district might only include three snow days due to the option of virtual learning. "Statewide, there's been a discussion of being allowed to use virtual instruction days in lieu of taking an actual snow day, but you had to use that after you exhausted the days you have built into your calendar for traditional snow days," Dr. Bulson said. "In other words, they're not the first thing you do; they come at the end." Both the board and the school community would have to vote on this, but Dr. Bulson said it's a strong possibility for the upcoming year. For now, minds are still on summer, which is why Dr. Bulson said it's better for students to prepare sooner rather than later for the first day of school. "We want them coming back ready to learn," Dr. Bulson said. "We're planning to start teaching on the first day. There's no ease period for school, so they need to come back ready for that. So, if they have things they need to get done, particularly things like summer assignments and summer reading, we want to make sure they're fully prepared to engage in that instruction on day one."
Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Harford school board proposes eliminating 150 positions to address $60M funding deficit
Harford County Public Schools is proposing the elimination of 150 positions and lower raises for employees next year as school officials work to reduce a $60 million budget deficit. The $60 million funding deficit that has plagued the district's FY26 budget comprised a $20 million salary package, $10 million in cost increases and $30 million needed to make up for the $30 million the school system pulled from its savings account to cover its operating budget last year. Based on current revenue projects from the state, county and other revenue sources — all of which are subject to change — Harford County Superintendent Sean Bulson proposed that the system reduce its salary package from $20 million to $13 million, reduce 150 positions equaling a savings of $15 million, and use $10 million in savings as opposed to $30 million. 'We are at a place where we have to make tough decisions,' Bulson said during his presentation to the board of education Monday night. 'This proposal is based on the financial health of the school system and what I think is the best path forward for the school system.' Bulson emphasized that he is confident the school system will be able to cut the 150 positions through turnover with staff retiring or not returning to the district next year. However, he said the reduction will impact students. 'Unequivocally, yes this will impact student achievement,' Bulson said. 'I can't balance this budget in a way that doesn't impact student achievement.' With the proposed reductions, Harford schools' funding request to the county government in FY26 is projected to be about $347.6 million — an increase of $26.24 million compared with last year and a reduction of about $33.76 million to the $60 million deficit. Bulson pointed out many issues he said superintendents across the state have with the statewide education funding initiative, Blueprint for Maryland's Future. Much of Bulson's concerns focused on the initiative's plans to fund expensive programs and areas of education budgets that he said do not yield a return on investment. Citing the high cost of Blueprint, Bulson said he would like to see things like college and career readiness be more of a funding priority in the Blueprint and a reduction in spending in other areas to allow school systems the ability to fund initiatives to hire more teachers and lower class sizes. 'The way [Blueprint] is currently designed, this is the blueprint to increase class sizes in the state of Maryland,' Bulson said. Since the start of FY26 budget conversations, school officials have pitched the idea of implementing fees for athletics, transportation and magnet schools along with closing smaller schools like Darlington Elementary to save money. Bulson said that his proposal does not include closing any school facilities or implementing fees other than the system's already existing 'use of facility' fee that he said he would like to get up to market rate. Bulson explained that he is opposed to passing fees on to parents and students because it would generate more angst than revenue significant enough to fill the school's budget deficit. Going forward, Bulson said he is focusing on cutting costs to ensure Harford schools come up with a sustainable budget that delivers the most to students given the current fiscal realities of the state and its low revenue projections. The proposed budget is subject to change based on board of education deliberations and fluctuating revenue projections. On Wednesday, Feb. 6, the board of education will host a public input session on Harford schools' FY26 budget at 6 p.m. at the A.A. Roberty Building at 102 South Hickory Avenue in Bel Air. Board members are set to vote on the proposed budget Feb. 10. Have a news tip? Contact Matt Hubbard at mhubbard@ 443-651-0101 or @mthubb on X.
