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Dozens of parents, students and community leaders urged the Frederick County Board of Education Monday against cuts to junior varsity athletics, Sabillasville Elementary School, special education services and the CASS program.

At the public hearing on the board's operating budget for fiscal 2010, everyone told a compelling story to illustrate how those programs and services benefit students and communities.

Kassie Fritz, a mother of two teenagers in Frederick County schools, talked about the CASS (Community Agency School Services) program, which connects families with certified social workers and provides them with financial, legal and psychological support.

The CASS program put Fritz back on her feet after her husband filed for divorce, her mom got sick, and Fritz and her two children were left without a place to live. With the help of CASS coordinators, they were able to find a home, receive food and school supplies, and even obtain free legal aid to help Fritz through her divorce.

"CASS gave me all kinds of information," Fritz told the board and more than 150 people who attended the hearing at Tuscarora High School Monday night.

"CASS is a vital program for people ... without it they will be lost," said Fritz, who works as an assistant school bus driver.

The CASS program could be one of the school system's services affected by cuts, as Frederick County school officials struggle to balance their proposed $511 million operating budget for fiscal 2011.

The school system's budget deficit is a moving target, but could be at least $10 million.

That figure, however, could go up by another $6.3 million if legislators in Annapolis do not fund the geographic cost of education index in Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed budget.

And the school system could lose another $11 million if the Frederick Board of County Commissioners is granted a waiver allowing it to reduce its contribution to the school system by 5 percent.

Preparing for the worst-case scenario, the school system has developed a list of 26 potential budget cuts totaling about $17 million. Proposed cuts include closing Sabillasville Elementary, increasing class size, cutting central office staffing, eliminating swimming, diving and junior varsity sports, trimming extracurricular activities and after-school clubs.

The cuts are arranged into four tiers, with the first tier to be implemented first and the fourth tier planned only as a last resort.

The hearing on Monday, which brought in more than 150 school employees, parents, students, community leaders and other residents, was the first chance for the public to comment on the potential cuts.

Some talked against closing Sabillasville Elementary. Parents and civic group representatives said the measure would hurt students because they would spend more time traveling to school than they do now. Others were concerned about the safety of students or the Sabillasville community losing a major social gathering point.

Other parents were concerned the CASS program is not specifically identified on the four-tier list of budget cuts.

But advocates, staff and parents at the hearing expressed concern the program may face cuts as a result of a proposed $2.5 million reduction in central office staffing. The reduction is among 13 budget cuts that will go in effect if schools don't get enough state and county funding to balance their budget.

School system officials so far have refused to discuss details about the measure because it would affect specific staff members, and it is unclear how many central positions would be affected by the reduction.

That is a concern for CASS workers and advocates, who said the program is too important to cut, especially after it was already trimmed last year when the work year for all nine CASS coordinators was cut down from 12 to 11 months.

"People don't realize that we are considered a part of central office," said Ann Ricciuti, the CASS coordinator for the Brunswick feeder pattern. "We just wanted people to understand why this program is important."

Other speakers were concerned about the board reducing funding and services for students with special needs. The school board discussed that option at recent budget meetings, but parents of students with special needs were not happy with that possibility.

Brent Cook, a father of two, whose son is seventh-grader with special needs, said he was shocked to hear that board members were discussing cutting the money they spend on special education.

Special education students, he said, are the ones who would suffer most from a cut in services. Cook also reminded the board that every year, when the results from the Maryland School Assessments come out, the challenges are always with special education students.

Cook told the board that his son could barely speak when he started fifth grade two years ago, and he needed every service that he received.

"Come and walk a day in his shoes, and then tell me what he can do without," Cook told the board.

Dressed in black T-shirts with the slogan "Save indoor field and track," more than 20 students from all parts of the county showed support for the indoor track-and-field programs, which may end up on the budget chopping board.

Students said these athletic programs helped them learn camaraderie and dedication, time management and confidence. Their parents also urged the school board to preserve the sports, which keep children active and give them a positive way to spend their time.

The junior varsity athletic programs are lined up for cuts in the board's proposed "last resort" tier of cuts.

"Sports and athletics are an extension of the classroom," said Gail Lieb, a mother of a student at Middletown High School.

Lieb, whose son is applying for college, reminded the board that colleges look for students who are involved in sports as well as academics. "Sports are important for colleges," Lieb said. "It teaches them to set goals, it teaches them to believe in themselves."

Katie Groth, president of the school board, told parents the board will consider all of the concerns they heard at the hearing before they make their final budget recommendation and pass it on to the county commissioners by March 1.

But she also told parents and residents to voice their concerns again before state legislators and county commissioners who have yet to make decisions on public school funding.

"The Board of Education has no taxing authority," she said. "...What you need to do now is contact your legislators and county commissioners. If we have to cut millions of dollars more, it will impact students directly."

E-mail Margarita Raycheva at mraycheva@gazette.net.