Economy squeezes education budgets

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By Gary Emerling

School districts across the region are preparing to cut most nonessential classrooms needs - from bus routes to class trips - as a result of budget deficits created by the troubled national economy.

"It's going to be a daunting task to continue quality education," said Patricia Wirth, who has two grandchildren attending Fairview Elementary School in Fairfax County and is a member of the county council's parent-teacher associations. "It's pretty scary."

The county's roughly 197-school system is expected to be among the hardest-hit in the region, along with Montgomery and Prince George's counties.

School systems across the country are facing similar situations - some with more severe consequences.

The Boston public school system is considering closing schools to save money. Superintendent Carol Johnson is expected this week to present a proposal to the school board about closing or merging schools, and a final decision is expected in October.

In New York's Westchester County, the Mount Vernon school district this summer eliminated 115 jobs and temporarily cut funding for high school sports. Last-minute private donations - including $100,000 from actor Denzel Washington - and reworking the budget saved the fall sports programs but the status of the winter sports remains uncertain.

Parents in Maryland's Anne Arundel County, like others across the country, are again this year being asked to provide schools with staples such as soap and tissue paper.

In Virginia, Fairfax County faces a $430 million budget deficit in fiscal 2010, and the county's budget director has projected a more than 4 percent decrease in revenue next year.

The school board and the county's board of supervisors began holding community meetings last month to gather "feedback, suggestions and comments from the taxpayers about how their money is spent," said school board Chairman Dan Storck.

School board member Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner said officials are hoping to find as much as $200 million in budget savings as part of a top-to-bottom review that aims to keep academic programs and school-safety measures intact amid the coming cuts.