Montgomery County Schools eliminate 400 positions, 2 dozen teachers

About two dozen staff, almost all of them teachers, will be laid off from Montgomery County public schools, school officials said Thursday. A total of more than 400 staff positions are being eliminated under cuts that have been expanded because of the final funding figures that the Montgomery County Council approved last month. Those don't all translate into layoffs because of retirements, reassignments and other attrition. The newest cuts were unveiled Thursday. They include eliminating 30 percent of the textbook budget, six fewer maintenance staff and no after-school buses for elementary school activities, said Larry Bowers, chief operating officer for the Montgomery schools. The budget is being cut by $97 million for fiscal 2011, to $2.1 billion. SOURCE: Washington Post