Frederick County Public Schools Board of Education faced a split vote as they trimmed around $1 million from its $2 million budget deficit at a meeting Wednesday.

When it came to cutting funds for school lunch monitors, four members voted for the cuts while three voted against. While Student Board Member Elijah Steele does not possess voting powers in his position, he said cutting this item would be a poor move for FCPS. “I know we’re close to the finish line, but I feel like this would do more harm to our staff than anything,” Steele said.

School lunch monitors were previously filled by school counselors, support staff and parent volunteers. FCPS created paid positions with funding received after covid, allowing staff more time with students.

This cut comes after the school system lost their post-covid funding. The vote did not remove the positions, instead cutting more than $200,000 from the program's budget.

Dr. Jamie Aliveto, FCPS’s Chief of Schools & Accountability, said schools will likely see a reduction in the hours available to school monitors. It’s the county’s largest schools that benefit most from the funding, Alvito explained, but there may be ways to apply for alternative funding.

“Some of our schools have community schools money as well as Title 1 funds.” Aliveto said. “They would be able to supplement using those funds if it was a determined need.”

Board member Colt Black proposed a consolidation of two executive director positions. While the board did not opt for this choice, it could have resulted in an estimated $242,000 in savings. “We could have eliminated a similar amount of money by eliminating the Executive Director of Systemwide Operations,” Black argued. “Yet we’re going to have students and staff suffering once again with this decrease in lunch monitors.”

The Board of Education will meet on June 25 to vote on all remaining budgets.