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Education officials say they understand the severity of the county's fiscal bind, but the cuts proposed in County Executive Isiah Leggett's fiscal 2011 operating budget could greatly impact the services they provide to students.

On Monday, Leggett (D) recommended a $4.3 billion spending plan for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The proposal includes a $2.12 billion operating budget for the county's public school system — roughly $138 million less than the $2.26 billion passed by the school board last month.

"Frankly, there's no money for our entire budget," schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast said. "We'll just deal with it. It's not [Leggett's] fault, it's not the county's fault."

Montgomery College's budget proposal is $14 million less than what the school's board of trustees sought.

"It's the most severe cut we've ever sustained in the history of the college," interim college President Hercules Pinkney said Monday. "There are more students coming in, and we're getting less resources."

For 2011, college officials wanted the county to contribute $108.1 million to its overall $223 million operating budget. Instead, Leggett's budget proposes the county spend $93.6 million on the community college.

The college's fiscal 2010 operating budget is $217 million, $106.5 million of which is funded by the county, according to college information.

If the budget is passed as proposed, Pinkney said, the college will consider instituting furlough days and cutting positions.

"Everything is possible at this point," he said.

The additional $14 million requested for fiscal 2011 is supposed to help school officials provide grants and scholarships to needy students and hire 18 math and science professors to staff the science center being built on its Rockville campus, college spokeswoman Elizabeth S. Homan said.

Leggett's proposed cuts come at a difficult time for Montgomery College, since the school expects record enrollment on its three campuses, Pinkney said.

When the economy sours, enrollment tends to increase at community colleges because the tuition is cheaper than those at most four-year universities. Montgomery College has denied admission to some students due to the lack of available classroom space and professors.

College officials have also proposed increasing tuition by $3 for in-county residents, $6 for in-state residents, and $9 for out-of-state residents. The trustees are scheduled to vote on the proposal in June, after the County Council votes on the college's budget, Homan said.

If approved, students living in the county would pay $102 per semester hour; students living in the state would pay $209 per semester hour; and students living out-of-state would pay $284 per semester hour, according to college information.

In preparation for the tight budget, Weast announced March 5 that the system would eliminate 252 classroom teacher positions and increase the average number of students in each of its classes by one student for the 2010-2011 academic year.

A total of 142 classroom teacher positions are being cut from elementary schools, while county middle schools would lose a combined 55 classroom teacher positions. High schools would also lose 55 positions in all, according to Weast's memo.

Teachers are not now being laid off, but school leaders cannot guarantee all educators will keep their jobs if the budget is cut further.

To make ends meet, the system plans to eliminate cost-of-living increases and step increases for school system employees, Weast said.

The 2011 schools budget assumed the county will give it $1.5 billion — or $11,249 per student — and comply with its maintenance-of-effort requirement, which mandates local governments fund their school systems at the same level as the previous fiscal year.

In 2010, the county sought a waiver from the state school board on its requirement because the recession made it difficult for them to fund education.

The county was supposed to give $1.5 billion to schools. Instead, it loaned $79.5 million to the school system through a debt service option.

In June, Weast wrote a letter to state Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick questioning whether the county's loan was legal. In November, the state Attorney General's Office said the county's funding method was illegal.

Since the county's loan was deemed illegal, the state school board withheld $23.4 million from the school system for the remainder of fiscal 2010, which ends June 30.

The state House and Senate have passed legislation to eliminate the fine for the school system, and it awaits a signature from Gov. Martin O'Malley (D). Leggett said the county would seek another waiver of its maintenance-of-effort requirement from the state school board.

"We'll give them an offer they can't refuse," Leggett said.

Several bills are pending in Annapolis to change the maintenance-of-effort law. The General Assembly has until April to vote on the maintenance-of-effort legislation.