Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Bedell will present his recommended Fiscal Year 2026 operating and capital budgets at the next meeting of the Board of Education of Anne Arundel County, scheduled for Wednesday, December 18, 2024.
The budgets chart the course for the school system for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2025. The Board will conduct two public hearings and a public workshop on Dr. Bedell’s recommendation before adopting a budget request to forward to County Executive Steuart Pittman in February. The County Executive’s proposal will be considered by the County Council before it adopts an operating budget that allocates funding within state-established categories and a capital budget that prescribes funding for school construction projects in June.
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the Board will hear the recommendation of the AACPS Calendar Committee as it regards the 2025-26 school year calendar. The Board is scheduled to vote on adoption of a 2025-26 school year calendar at its January 8, 2025, meeting, after a period during which the public may comment on the recommendation.
Wednesday’s meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Board Room of the Carol S. Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in Annapolis. It is open to the public and subject to normal space limitations in the Board Room.
A complete agenda for the meeting can be found here. More information on agenda items will be posted on the AACPS website in the Board Docs section under the Board of Education tab. Protocols, procedures, and expectations for those attending the meeting can be found here.
The Board will also meet in a public session at 4:30 p.m. for the sole purpose of voting to immediately go into closed session, during which time it will discuss confidential matters as permitted by the Maryland Open Meetings Act including, but not limited to, legal advice, personnel, and negotiations. Closed session is not open to the public.
PROCESS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS
The Board will hear public comment from up to 10 total speakers (virtual and in-person combined) per agenda item (excluding personnel items, reports, informational presentations, and recognitions) during a single public comment section in the early portion of the meeting. Additionally, up to 10 speakers can comment on non-agenda items, excluding student-specific or personnel matters, towards the end of the meeting.
Procedures and protocols for public comment can be found here. A link to register for public comment will be live at 3 p.m. on the Friday before a Board meeting.
The general session of the meeting will be broadcast live on AACPS-TV and on AACPS’ YouTube channel.
BUDGET HEARINGS, WORKSHOP
The Board has scheduled a public workshop and two public hearings on Dr. Bedell’s budget recommendation.
Public hearings will be held on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, at Severn Run High School, and Thursday, January 9, 2025, in the Board Room at the Parham Building in Annapolis. Both hearings begin at 6 p.m. The workshop will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, in the Board Room at the Parham Building.
Testimony at the hearings will be limited to two minutes per person. No budget-related public testimony will be taken at the workshop or at the February 19, 2025, meeting at which the Board is scheduled to adopt its budget request. Should the Board offer amendments at the February 19, 2025, meeting, testimony will be taken on the amendments only. The Board has also scheduled time to meet on February 20, 2025, if it is necessary to complete work on its budget request.
The January 9 public hearing and the January 21 workshop will be broadcast live on AACPS-TV and on AACPS’ YouTube channel.
Dr. Bedell’s full Fiscal Year 2026 operating and capital budget recommendations, as well as a text of his budget address and a Budget in Brief document, will be posted at www.aacps.org/fy26budget no later than December 19, 2024.
BOARD WORKSHOP ON MARYLAND REPORT CARD
The Board will also hold a public workshop to discuss information related to the recently released Maryland Report Card results at 6 p.m. on Monday, December 16, 2024, in the Board Room. The Maryland Report Card provides schools across the state with star ratings calculated from a variety of academic, attendance, and curriculum factors.
The workshop will be held in the Board Room of the Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in Annapolis. It is open to the public, but no public questions or testimony will be taken.
The workshop will be broadcast live on AACPS-TV and on AACPS’ YouTube channel.
BOARD COMMITTEE MEETINGS
The Board of Education’s committees will hold upcoming virtual meetings according to the following schedule. The meetings will not be broadcast, but those wishing to listen to the meetings can access them by telephone through the codes listed below.
· Policy Committee: 3 p.m., January 7, 2025. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 923 497 708#.
· Budget Committee: Noon, January 21, 2025. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 461 893 827#.
· Equity Committee: Noon, February 25, 2025. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 855 986 412#.