The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County will discuss and is set to vote on which Broadneck area redistricting proposals to take to public hearing at its next meeting, set for Wednesday, January 22, 2020.
Superintendent George Arlotto’s recommendation, presented to the Board at its December 4, 2019, meeting, would shift four neighborhoods north of College Parkway on the eastern edge of the current Broadneck Elementary School attendance area from that school to Cape St. Claire Elementary School. The shift of the neighborhoods – identified as 603, 604, 605, and 606 in redistricting documents that can be found online here, is projected to move 108 students from Broadneck Elementary to Cape St. Claire Elementary. It would move Broadneck Elementary from 109.6 percent of capacity to 93.4 percent, and Cape St. Claire from 76.6 percent of capacity to 92.4.
Dr. Arlotto’s recommendation, which shifts fewer students than the one proposed by a redistricting committee made up of parents from potentially impacted schools in the Broadneck cluster, also includes a grandfathering clause for students who would be entering fifth grade in the 2020-2021 school year. No middle or high school boundaries would be changed under Dr. Arlotto’s recommendation.
A public briefing and public hearing on any plan moved forward would be held before the Board votes on adoption of any plan.
The meeting will be held in the Board Room at the Parham Building, 2644 Riva Road, Annapolis. 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 7 p.m.
PUBLIC TESTIMONY SIGNUP PROCESS
Members of the public wishing to testify before the Board can sign up in advance online or by phone. Signups now will open on the Friday before a Board meeting when the agenda for that meeting is published and will close at 4 p.m. on the day before the meeting. Members of the public can sign up here or by calling 410-222-5311.
The Board will continue to hear testimony on agenda items when those items are before the Board. Testimony on items not on the agenda will be heard during the Public Comment portion of Board meetings.
Regardless of whether the testimony is offered on an agenda item or during Public Comment, student-specific concerns, personnel issues, and items under appeal or pending appeal cannot be discussed before the Board.
Members of the public may only sign up themselves to testify before the Board.
Testimony can also be submitted to the Board of Education via email at any time at BoardOffice@aacps.org. Signups for those wishing to testify at Board meetings will not be accepted by email.
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 Board may choose to change the order in which agenda items are heard to meet the Board’s needs. Unless changed by the Board, items will be heard in the order in which they appear on the agenda.
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.
The meeting can also be viewed live on the Internet here.