School board members are following the lead of Montgomery’s superintendent and backing pay raises for employees.

But as Montgomery County Public Schools is preparing for what officials expect will be better news from the county in terms of funding, board members are worried about getting hit by Annapolis lawmakers — who could decide to shift some of the burden of teacher pensions to counties, and ultimately to school boards.

Board of Education member Laura V. Berthiaume said it’s the “same set of hot potatoes” as usual, but this time with pensions tossed into the mix.

“There’s just so many variations on that scenario, and it’s hard to know which one is going to come down out of Annapolis,” said Berthiaume (Dist. 2) of Rockville.

Montgomery County’s obligation for teacher pensions in fiscal 2013, under the proposal from Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), would be $41 million. It is estimated to be $351 million across five years. It is unclear to what extent county officials would pass that cost along to the school system.

Across the country, schools systems are seeing drastic changes to employee retirement funds at the hands of their counterparts in state capitals, said Mike Griffith, senior finance analyst for the Education Commission of the States, based in Denver.

“We’re seeing more changes to pension systems in the last three years than we did in the previous two decades,” Griffith said.

The school board is scheduled to vote Tuesday on Superintendent of Schools Joshua P. Starr’s recommended budget for fiscal 2013. That recommendation will in turn be passed on to County Executive Isiah Leggett (D), who will in turn make his own budget recommendation to the County Council.

In December, Starr proposed a $2.13 billion operating budget for fiscal 2013. He stressed the 2 percent increase from the fiscal 2012 budget is the smallest in more than a decade, but is crucial because of the projected increase of about 2,000 students in the coming year. Enrollment this year is more than 146,000.

One of the highlights of his proposed budget is a pay increase for employees. Starr set aside $8.6 million for increased compensation for employees, who have not had cost-of-living pay increases for three years and pay increases based on years of service, or step increases, for two years.

“I think that has support from the board,” said Phil Kauffman (At large) of Olney, who is chairman of the board’s Fiscal Management Committee.

Late last month, Starr tweaked his proposal to include an anticipated $4.6 million in increased state funding aid. He also asked for $221,000 to pay for three additional pre-K classes for students from low-income families; reduced $600,000 from salaries for part-time summer employment, and shifted $300,000 within his budget to pay for Gallup Consulting to measure staff engagement.

Starr’s request for county funding is about $1.39 billion, a $22 million increase from fiscal 2012. He also said in December he expected the County Council to make up a $26 million loss in state funding that is due to hit the school system in fiscal 2013 because the county had cut its per-pupil funding in recent years.

Teachers and others who have worked in the school system for four or five years might begin to become restless about their salaries without any raises, Berthiaume said.

“There’s a sense on the board that our employees struggled through some very difficult times, that they’re facing overcrowded schools, overcrowded schools, fewer support resources, and that another year without steps would create the situation of a feeling perhaps of unfairness,” she said. “They’d be making the same as a first year teacher, and you’d expect to move up the ranks.”

aujifusa@gazette.net