Cognizant of a looming state budget shortfall but adamant that Anne Arundel County Public Schools can be “the greatest school district in this country, period,” if given the appropriate resources, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Bedell proposed a Fiscal Year 2026 operating budget to the Board of Education tonight that prioritizes special education, early literacy, multilingual learners and employee compensation.
Dr. Bedell’s $1.8 billion recommendation contains more than $16 million for the Division of Specialized Instruction and Early Intervention Services as the school system addresses the diverse needs of a student population that has grown by 5 percent in each of the last two years. Of the 155 special education positions recommended by Dr. Bedell, 91 are classroom teachers and instructional staff and 28 more are critical IEP facilitators who will support legally mandated IEP process requirements and relieve significant workload from classroom teachers. AACPS has not received additional positions to address the growth of students with special needs in three years.
Dr. Bedell’s recommendation also contains 17.3 positions and nearly $1.7 million to add staffing for four classrooms to expand the prekindergarten program for 4-year-olds, $2 million for early intervention teachers to replace expiring Blueprint for Maryland’s Future funding, and $275,500 to begin to convert the Carver Professional Development Center in Gambrills into AACPS’ fourth early education center.
To continue to address the needs of multilingual learners – the school system’s fastest growing population – and their families, Dr. Bedell is recommending $2 million for 18 English Language Development teachers, two bilingual Pupil Personnel Workers, and a shift of six bilingual facilitator positions to 12-month schedules to be better able to serve families year-round. The number of multilingual students in AACPS has risen by 38 percent since 2020.
Dr. Bedell’s plan also includes more than $57 million for employee compensation increases and benefits costs. That is sufficient for a step or step equivalent for all eligible employees, plus a 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment for all employees. Over and above the step and COLA increases, Dr. Bedell’s plan includes nearly $4.2 million in targeted increases specific to each employee bargaining unit.
“This is an amazingly beautiful diverse school district in so many ways. That diversity is something on which we can – and must – continue to build,” Dr. Bedell said in his budget address. “For me, where we can go from here is clear: We can become the greatest school district in this country, period. If we have the resources; if we do the things that our Strategic Plan calls for; if we stay true to being honest about the data, attacking that data in a very strategic way and moving the needle for all of our students, we will become an absolutely phenomenal school district in this country. That results in a higher quality of life not just for our students and their families, but for every single person in Anne Arundel County.”
To continue to enhance safety for students and staff, Dr. Bedell has included more than $3.5 million in operating and capital budget costs to construct more security vestibules at schools, enhance school security camera systems throughout the county, and launch a pilot program to harness state-of-the-art technology and install non-invasive weapons detection systems at two yet-to-be-determined schools.
Also included is nearly $1.6 million to complete the rollout of the middle school athletics program that will begin this spring and $3.2 million to open the New Village Academy Public Charter School next fall.
"By their very nature, budget addresses are filled with numbers and lay out a road map for the future,” Dr. Bedell said. “However, behind every single number I have mentioned tonight and the thousands contained in the full budget recommendation book is a child, a precious child whose future we hold in our collective hands. Our children – each and every single one of them – are depending on us to obtain the necessary resources and use them to shape that future.”
CAPITAL BUDGET RECOMMENDATION
Dr. Bedell’s $204.7 million FY2026 capital budget recommendation contains nearly $120 million in major capital projects for the final three schools in the Old Mill Master Plan:
· Center of Applied Technology North, $13.0 million
· Old Mill High School, $77.1 million
· Old Mill Middle School North, $29.7 million
The new Old Mill High School is planned for the property where the current school is located. That property will also be home to the new Center of Applied Technology North, with the new Old Mill Middle School North being constructed on the current CAT-North property.
Dr. Bedell’s capital budget recommendation also includes:
· $33.0 million for building systems renovations.
· $9.2 million to construct a new school bus facility and lot, a project recommended by the Prismatic audit commissioned by the Board.
· $8 million to continue to reduce the maintenance backlog.
· $5 million for kindergarten and prekindergarten additions.
· $4 million for additions to existing buildings.
· $4 million for athletic stadium improvements.
· $2 million for security-related upgrades.
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, can be found at www.aacps.org/fy26budget.