Teachers, correctional officers ask for raises in Wicomico

Wicomico County school teachers made a pitch for full funding of the Board of Education's budget request, but County Executive Bob Culver told them the county doesn't have enough money.

In order to fund the $7.5 million requested by the school board, plus requests from other departments, the county would need to raise taxes by 13 cents, Culver told them during a Thursday public budget meeting.

"I can't give $7.5 million to fully fund the BOE," he said.

The school system is seeking additional funds that would pay for teacher pay increases and for a new pre-kindergarten program, and Joan Smith, president of the Wicomico County Education Association, said her group supports fully funding the budget request of Superintendent Donna Hanlin.

"The vision requires substantial investment," she said.

About a dozen teachers and teaching assistants also spoke about the need for better pay, including Harry Suber, a teacher and coach. 

Teachers not only teach and mentor students, they also deal with "society's ills" every day in their classrooms, and salary increases are an investment in the future of the school system, Suber said.

"From my experience, a happy teacher is a good teacher," he said.

Correctional officers at the Wicomico County Detention Center also asked for pay raises, citing working conditions that can sometimes be dangerous.

Sgt. Christopher Stevenson, who has worked at the jail for 26 years, said he and other officers often deal with mentally ill and drug-addicted inmates.

"We have to deal with them, we have to keep them and we have to be professional," he said.

County officials are facing budget requests that are $10.3 million more than the total for the current year, but they are expecting only $5.6 million in additional revenue, said Wayne Strausburg, the county's director of administration.

Culver and his staff must figure out how to make cuts before they submit a balanced budget to the County Council.

The county is facing numerous challenges to its fiscal 2019 budget, including the loss of state Highway User Revenues which go toward county roads, plus an 18 percent increase in insurance costs, Culver said. He called teachers' comparisons to salaries in neighboring Worcester County unfair because Worcester benefits from a much larger tax base in Ocean City.

"I can't keep up with them — no way," he said.

Culver must submit a balanced budget to the County Council by April 17.

The council will then review it and then adopt it before it takes effect July 1, the start of the new fiscal year.

Twitter: @LizHolland5

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