By a 4-3 vote, the Anne Arundel County Council rejected an attempt to transfer $745,100 from student transportation to student mental health, The Baltimore Sun reported.
The plan would have shifted the funds used to employ seven Anne Arundel County Board of Education transportation administrative positions to instead hire five school counselors, a school psychologist and a school climate teacher specialist focused on restorative practices.
Councilwoman Lisa Brannigan Rodvien voted against the transfer because she said the “flawed” transportation system needs the money to see through reforms
The article noted that the school district could still hire mental health professionals but without using funds already allocated for student transportation. Instead, the board of education would need to devise a way to redistribute its $1.3 billion budget without tapping funds set aside in a different budget for school transportation or student health services.
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