BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Carroll County should hire 16 additional high school teachers next school year to help keep class sizes down, the school board said.

The new hires would come with the $329.5 million budget the board approved unanimously Wednesday night.

Under the budget, which needs the approval of county commissioners, 15 of the 22 school-based accountant positions would be cut.

“My priority is 100 percent getting our class sizes in order,” said Jeffrey Morse, the board member who proposed the additional teacher slots, which the board increased from the seven the superintendent had recommended.

Some advanced high school classes have 35 students, and Morse said he wanted to cap class sizes at 30 by hiring 16 new teachers each of the next three years.

“Sixteen teachers could make an obvious impact,” said Sherri-Le Bream, director of high schools.

A testing coordinator for each high school was also added to the budget to help students deal with more standardized tests and to relieve guidance counselors’ workload.

“I was hoping I wasn’t going to have to do that this year because times are tough, but I feel that strongly,” board President Cynthia Foley said of adding to the budget.

Board member Gary Bauer was the only to oppose Foley’s request for testing coordinators, which would cost about $483,000.

The budget totals about $21 million more than the current year’s approved budget, but that follows the trend; the current year’s budget is about $22 million more than the previous year’s.

The board must contend with at least $5 million in state cuts to Carroll’s schools.

Board members urged commissioners to pass the budget without cutting it. “I don’t know there’s much at this point that if we eliminate it will not have a significant impact on students’ performance,” Morse said.

msilvestri@baltimoreexaminer.com