An education budget meeting was held at Montgomery College Rockville campus in the Theatre Arts Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 28. Hosting and facilitating the meeting were Montgomery College’s President Dr. DeRionne Pollard, Montgomery County Public School’s Superintendent Dr. Jack Smith, and Chair of the County Council’s Education Committee Mr. Craig Rice.

Pollard then gave an overview of each Montgomery College campus. She explained how they each built their own academic legacy. The Germantown campus is recognized for it’s outstanding Cyber Security program, the Rockville Campus for Engineering and the TP/SS campus is an excellent choice when it comes to Nursing. She praised how diverse and affordable Montgomery College is. The population of MC is made up of 70 percent PoC. Pollard, as well as an MC staff member from the TP/SS campus, requested funding from the county to construct a new math and science building at the TP/SS campus.

Rice presented Montgomery County’s Operating and Capital budget for the fiscal year July 1, 2018, to June 3o, 2019. He explained that the operating budget will be used to fund K-12 education, transportation, public safety, Montgomery College, while the Capital budget will be used to fund roads, police and fire stations, libraries and much more. He also discussed the estimated total expenditure for Montgomery County this year (2018), which is $5.45 Billion.

The budget dedicated $618 million to Public Safety. The plan is to get more school guards and to have the school doors locked when the students are in class. That enables students, faculty, and staff to have a sense of security.

Smith then discussed the Montgomery County Public Schools fiscal year 2019 operating budget. He plans for Montgomery County Public Schools to reach out to students who have dropped out of schools and encourage, motivate, and do as much as possible to get them back in school. That includes both college and high school students.

Smith explained how lower-income students, students that come from a foreign country and students that do not speak English are more likely to struggle in school and there is much that needs to be done to help them. He even went on to highlight the fact that 74.4 percent of our teachers, in the Montgomery County, are white. “Our teachers don’t look like us,” he said. That, certainly, is an issue. He explained that the mission they have for all Montgomery County students is to get us “from Pre-k to jobs.” Who could disagree?

At the end of their presentation, they gave room for questions. An elderly man stood up and ask a shocking question. He asked Smith to assure him that under no circumstances will firearms be given to Montgomery County Public School teachers. Smith affirmed.Good news—Montgomery County teachers will not become classroom spies anytime soon.