The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County will hold a workshop to discuss Crofton area redistricting proposals from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, January 22, 2019.
The workshop will run from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Board Room of the Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in Annapolis. It is open to the public, but no public testimony or questions will be taken.
At its December 5, 2018, meeting, the Board was presented with Superintendent George Arlotto’s recommendation regarding the redistricting of school boundaries to form an attendance area for the Crofton area to accompany the opening of the new Crofton Area High School in 2020. The recommendation generally aligned with that crafted by the Crofton Area Redistricting Committee with exception of the following:
- All boundary shifts will occur in the 2020-2021 school year.
- There is no recommended grandfathering. The committee had originally recommended that some boundary shifts take effect in the 2019-2020 school year, with a two-year grandfathering.
Dr. Arlotto’s recommendation would:
- redistrict all Crofton Elementary School and Crofton Middle School students in the Two Rivers/Forks of the Patuxent and Waugh Chapel communities temporarily to Piney Orchard Elementary School and Arundel Middle School beginning in the 2020-2021 school year, until West County Elementary School opens in the Arundel feeder system. These students will continue to attend Arundel High School.
- redistrict the Riverwalk at Crofton community to Crofton Woods Elementary School, Crofton Middle School and Crofton Area High School beginning in the 2020-2021 school year (there are no students currently living in this area.)
- redistrict all Arundel High School students living in the Nantucket, Crofton Meadows, and Crofton elementary schools attendance zones on the east side of Route 3 to Crofton Area High School beginning in the 2020-2021 school year. These students would continue to attend Crofton Middle School.
- redistrict all South River High School students in the Crofton Meadows and Crofton Woods elementary schools attendance zones to Crofton Area High School beginning in the 2020-2021 school year. These students would continue to attend Crofton Middle School.
- not include grandfathering provisions at any schools.
At its January 9, 2019, meeting, the Board chose to delay moving any plans forward to public hearing and hold a workshop first.
As the process continues, the Board can choose to move Dr. Arlotto’s recommendation forward, choose others developed by the committee, or formulate its own plan to take to public hearing for comment.
Other key dates in the process are:
- Wednesday, January 23, 2019: The Board will consider proposals to take to public hearing as part of its regularly scheduled meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Board Room. Under Anne Arundel County Public Schools’ redistricting process, the Board must decide on which proposal(s) to take to public hearing by January 31.
- Tuesday, March 19, 2019: The Board will conduct a public hearing on the plan(s) it chooses to move forward at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at Arundel High School. On a date yet to be determined but prior to the hearing, AACPS staff will conduct a public briefing on the plan(s) moved forward by the Board. The public may ask clarifying questions at the briefing, but no testimony will be taken.
- Wednesday, April 17, 2019: As part of its regular meeting, the Board will vote on adoption of a redistricting plan, which will go into effect in August 2020. The meeting begins at 7 p.m.