The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County will discuss and vote on the adoption of its Fiscal Year 2020 operating and capital budget requests at its next meeting, scheduled for February 20, 2019.
The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. – 30 minutes earlier than previously announced – in the Board Room of the Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in Annapolis. The Board intends to hear non-budget related items out of agenda order at the outset of the meeting before turning its attention to adoption of the budgets.
Superintendent George Arlotto’s recommended $1.26 billion operating budget for Fiscal Year 2020 would add 201 classroom teaching positions and provide school system employees with compensation increases. Dr. Arlotto’s $172 million capital budget recommendation includes $88.8 million for ongoing construction projects at George Cromwell Elementary School, Edgewater Elementary School, Tyler Heights Elementary School, Richard Henry Lee Elementary School, and Crofton Area High School.
Public testimony on the Superintendent’s Recommended FY2020 Operating and Capital budgets was taken at Board of Education public hearings on January 8 and 10, 2019. Accordingly, no public testimony on the recommendation will be taken at Wednesday’s Board meeting. If amendments are offered by Board Members, public comment will be taken on the content of those amendments only.
Dr. Arlotto’s full Fiscal Year 2020 operating and capital budget recommendations, as well as a text of his budget address and a Budget in Brief document, can be found here.
The Board’s approved budget request will be forwarded to County Executive Steuart Pittman. The County Executive’s proposal will be considered by the County Council before it adopts a budget that allocates funding within prescribed state categories in June. The Board retains the ability to shift funding within operating budget categories before it approves a final school system budget no later than June 30.
TRIBUTE TO DR. ARIS T. ALLEN
Also at the meeting, the Board will honor the legacy of the late Dr. Aris T. Allen, the first African-American to serve on the Board of Education of Anne Arundel County and the first African-American to represent Anne Arundel County in the Maryland General Assembly. The Board will view a video tribute to Dr. Allen that will feature Anne Arundel County Public Schools students.
The Board will meet in a public session at 5:30 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. The public session of the meeting will resume at 6:30 p.m.
A complete agenda for the meeting accompanies this news release. More information on agenda items will be posted on the AACPS website in the Board Docs section under the Board of Education tab.
The general session of Wednesday’s Board meeting will be broadcast live on AACPS-TV, which can be found on Channel 96 on Comcast and Broadstripe, and Channel 36 on Verizon. High definition broadcasts can be seen on Channel 996 on Comcast, Channel 496 on Broadstripe, and Channel 1961 on Verizon. Rebroadcasts are scheduled for 7 p.m. the day after the meeting and 2 p.m. on subsequent Sundays.
The meeting can also be viewed live on the Internet here.
Archived videos of Board meetings can be found online here.
Board of Education meeting agenda, 2-20-19