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Prince George's County school leaders are considering taking $17.4 million out of the school system's $21 million surplus fund to balance next fiscal year's budget, which begins in July.

Board Vice Chairman Ron L. Watson (At large) said the school system would be "in a lot worse shape" without the fund balance.

"My biggest concern is about next year. … We won't have that fund balance to tap for another $17 million. It will be significantly worse," Watson said at Monday's board meeting.

After the county government finalized its budget, school officials found they fell short $5.6 million in their own budget, in part because of increases in areas such as unemployment insurance and the need for additional teaching positions.

The school board was also forced to find an additional $11.8 million to cut because of the county government's recent decision to charge the school system for school construction debt service which was previously provided for free.

Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. recommended taking $17.4 million, the amount needed to fill the gap, the school system's $21 million surplus — money set aside for emergencies and unexpected expenses — to meet the additional funding obligations.

If the board opts to take money from the fund, it would nearly wipe out the school system's reserves, leaving about $3.6 million.

School officials also expect to lay off approximately 290 employees; however, Hite said that number could change based on the numbers of employees who leave the school system or retire this year. Previously, school system officials had planned to lay off between 400 and 600 employees.

About 120 of those employees expected to lose their jobs are parent liaisons, who serve as go-betweens for families and school personnel in the system's more than 200 schools. About 105 to 110 are expected to remain, since some schools currently have more than one liaison.

Upper Marlboro resident Marcia Phillips, PTA president at Arrowhead Elementary in Upper Marlboro, said the school system will be damaged by losing so many parent liaisons. She said parent liaisons encourage family and community involvement in the school system, and the reduction of the positions will "cause a drastic reduction in services to parents."

"How can we create these relationships that have proven to benefit children if we don't have parent liaisons in place to nurture relationships with parents?" Phillips asked at the board meeting.

The layoffs are expected also to include central office employees, assistant principals, teachers and pupil personnel workers.

When asked about the effects of the cuts on the school system, Hite said given the more than $200 million that has been cut from the budget in the past two years, the cuts will begin to have a noticeable effect. The amount of cuts stems from not only reductions in funding, but also officials' rearranging the school system's budget to cover annually increasing costs.

"So when you think about that, over $200 million in two years is a substantial hit for a school system our size to take," Hite said. "We've tried to hold schools and classrooms harmless as much as we can. But another year like this, and we'll be impacting teaching, class sizes, school sizes."

The board has already made cuts to several popular programs, including the parent liaisons and the Advancement Via Individual Determination program, which prepares average students or students from low-income families for college.

The school board is expected to approve the reconciled budget at a June 25 board meeting.

For more information on the budget, visit www1.pgcps.org/board.

E-mail Megan King at mking@gazette.net.