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The chairwoman of the County Council's Education Committee called the head of the county school system a "rogue superintendent" in the wake of a state attorney general's opinion last week involving education funding that has touched some nerves.

Councilwoman Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring castigated Superintendent Jerry D. Weast for not communicating adequately with the County Council or the school board.

"It's really a problem," she said. "He's basically a rogue superintendent."

Ervin's comments are the latest in a series of disagreements between the school system and the council over maintenance of effort, which requires local governments to spend at least the same amount on education as in the previous year.

Officials from Montgomery, Prince George's and Wicomico counties had sought waivers from the state school board on the requirement, saying that the recession made it difficult for them to fund their school systems this year.

In May, the state board denied all three waiver requests.

Government leaders in Montgomery, Prince George's and Wicomico counties then approved plans to fund their respective school systems through a debt service option that would have required the systems to eventually pay back the money.

In June, Weast sent a letter to State Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick questioning the legality of the County Council's plan and asked who — the council or the school system — would be assessed a penalty if the plan was deemed unacceptable.

That letter raised the ire of some council members who faulted the superintendent for not consulting them before going to the state. Weast's letter was sent to Grasmick one day before the school board was scheduled to approve its $2.15 billion fiscal 2010 operating budget.

Ervin and Councilman Michael J. Knapp visited the school board meeting that day, and a contentious debate ensued outside the board room between board members and council members over the impact of maintenance of effort on the budget.

Then, on Nov. 4, Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth M. Kameen and Chief Counsel Robert N. McDonald said the funding plans proposed by Montgomery and Prince George's lawmakers are "not a permissible means" of satisfying their maintenance-of-effort requirement for fiscal 2010, which began July 1. Wicomico's plan, which differed in some details, was approved.

In a statement Nov. 4, Weast said he was "disappointed, but not surprised" by the attorney general's opinion. "We had serious concerns that the County Council's plan did not meet the maintenance-of-effort provision and, unfortunately, we were correct," the statement said.

The school board and Weast agreed Tuesday to ask the state to hold the schools system harmless on any penalties.

On Monday, Ervin took issue with Weast's comments and said he "doesn't seem to be controlled in any way."

"At this point, the superintendent has no bearing on the discussions," she said. "There's a lot going on here, and a lot of it is Jerry running his mouth when he doesn't need to run his mouth."

Weast's comments were intended for the news media, so they didn't have to be approved by the school board, said Dana To fig, a school system spokesman.

The comments went to the only two people who were seeking them, Tofig said. "We were getting questions. It was getting late, and we tried to respond as efficiently as possible."

Ervin's concerns with Weast's comments are "extremely overblown," said school board Vice President Patricia B. O'Neill (Dist. 3) of Bethesda.

"I think people need to take a deep breath," she said. "This issue is about money and not about comments. If council members were unhappy with his comments, they need to take it up with the board and not with reporters."

On Monday, Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown said he did not have a problem with Weast's comments.

Knapp voted against the county's fiscal 2010 operating budget because of the debt service option for maintenance of effort. In arguing against debt service, Knapp said the county should forgo funding maintenance of effort and take a penalty from the state.

The county already gave $80 million to the school system for the fiscal 2010 budget, Knapp said. Now, the county could be penalized as much as $64 million by the state.

"It's unfortunate because it was avoidable," Knapp said. "At a time when nobody has any money, we're going to be $150 million in the hole. We've created our own problem."

County Executive Isiah Leggett and County Council President Philip M. Andrews said last week that the attorney general's opinion is "disappointing — and wrong."

"We are prepared to sue the state of Maryland, and we will aggressively pursue legislative remedies to a law that is fatally flawed," Leggett (D) and Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg said in a statement.

Ervin said she has scheduled a committee meeting next week with Weast, budget officials and a representative of Leggett's office to discuss maintenance of effort.