After months of concerns over staff and program cuts, the Prince George's County school board finalized its $1.7 billion budget June 25.

The board approved the budget with board members Donna Hathaway Beck (At large), Heather Iliff (Dist. 2), R. Owen Johnson Jr. (Dist. 5), Amber P. Waller (At large), Chairwoman Verjeana M. Jacobs (At large) and Vice Chairman Ron L. Watson (At large) voting in favor. Board member Linda Thornton Thomas (Dist. 4) abstained, and board members Rosalind A. Johnson (Dist. 1) and Pat J. Fletcher (Dist. 3) voted against the budget.

"I think our legislators and those who fund us are doing a great disservice to our children simply because we have to cut vital staff that have made such strides for us to accomplish what we have done," Fletcher said.

Among the staff members being cut are parent liaisons, who encourage parental involvement in the county's schools. At least 100 parent liaisons were expected to be cut, though an exact number was not available by press time.

Hamna Villa of Bowie, speaking in Spanish through an interpreter, encouraged the board to maintain the funding for the position at her daughter's school, Yorktown Elementary. She said the school's liaison, Gabriela Navarro, plays an important role in helping Spanish-speaking parents deal with language barriers.

"Ms. Navarro is not only helping us with the students, but is helping the parents," she said. "She's giving us parents her time so we can better understand the English language."

Board members said they still do not know what the state's ruling is on their questions about maintenance of effort, the law that requires counties to maintain at least the same level of funding for school systems each year. In May, the state school board denied Prince George's County a waiver that would have allowed $23.6 million less be provided to the school system next year. The county has appealed the decision in court.

The County Council then opted to bill the school system $11.8 million for debt service on school construction bonds, which was previously provided free.

The state Department of Education is waiting for a legal opinion from the state attorney general on whether it is a violation of maintenance of effort for the county to charge the school system for the service.

Although the budget was approved in February, school officials found they needed $17.4 million more in cuts to balance its budget due to unexpected increases in some expenses as well as the county's decision to charge the school system for construction debt. School officials opted to take the money from the school system's $21 million reserve fund, nearly wiping out the school system's savings.

As of June 25, the school system planned to lay off 169 employees.

One area of concern for some residents was the reading recovery program, an intensive reading program for first-grade students. The program, which is in place in 111 county elementary schools, allows struggling students to meet with their teacher one-on-one for 30 minutes each day for 12 to 20 weeks.

Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said the school system would be able to use a portion of its $29 million in special education stimulus funds because the reading recovery is considered an early intervention that prevents children from being classified as special education if they do not learn how to read. The school system has two years to spend its money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

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