The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County will conduct a public hearing on Superintendent George Arlotto’s recommended Fiscal Year 2022 Capital Budget and six-year Capital Improvement Plan during its next regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, September 16, 2020.
The Board will meet virtually in a public session at 8:30 a.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 10 a.m.
The six-year plan, which includes a $234.5 million capital budget request for Fiscal Year 2022, charts the course for maintenance, renovation, and new construction projects through Fiscal Year 2027. After adoption by the Board, the plan will be submitted to the State of Maryland for funding consideration. The plan will also be part of the school system’s overall FY2022 budget request, to be forwarded to the County Executive in February 2021 after the Board holds additional public hearings.
Dr. Arlotto’s recommendation contains more than $174 million for the following major ongoing projects, in priority order:
- Quarterfield Elementary School, construction ($23.7 million)
- Hillsmere Elementary School, construction ($20.2 million)
- Rippling Woods Elementary School, construction ($29.9 million)
- Old Mill High School West, construction ($75.8 million)
- West County Elementary School, design/construction ($19.6 million)
- Old Mill Middle School South, design/construction ($4.8 million)
Also included is $10.0 million for full-day kindergarten and prekindergarten additions at Van Bokkelen, Sunset, Brock Bridge, and Meade Heights elementary schools, and $4.0 million for a four-classroom addition at Southgate Elementary School.
The Board will conduct the public hearing in the early portion of its meeting and consider adoption of a FY2022 Capital Budget request later in the meeting.
To ensure the opportunity for public input during the public portion of the meeting, the Board will accept written public comment for those items that appear on the agenda, including the public hearing on the capital budget recommendation. Such comment can be sent via email to BoardOffice@aacps.org or dropped off at the Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in Annapolis, no later than noon on Tuesday, September 15, 2020.
Testimony on agenda items must be 250 words or less and must include the name and community of residence of the author as well as any pertinent group affiliation.
Testimony will be compiled and provided to Board members prior to the start of the meeting. It will also be posted online at www.aacps.org/boardtestimony. During the meeting, the Board and the public will be apprised of how many comments were received for each agenda item.
Concerns that are confidential, such as student-specific and personnel issues, cannot be published as part of public testimony.
Testimony that exceeds the 250-word limit will be trimmed to meet the criteria before being posted online. However, the full version will be provided to Board.
Testimony on topics not on the agenda can be submitted under the same criteria as above and will also be posted online.
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 AACPS’ YouTube channel here.
Archived videos of Board meetings can be found online here.
BOARD OF EDUCATION TO MEET IN CLOSED SESSION, HOLD PUBLIC WORKSHOP ON REOPENING OF SCHOOLS ON SEPTEMBER 14
The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County will meet via telephone conference call at 5 p.m. on Monday, September 14, 2020, for the intended purpose of voting to go into closed session, pursuant to Section 3-305(b) of the General Provisions Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland and consistent with recent guidance from the Office of the Attorney General, to discuss personnel matters, consult with counsel to obtain legal advice, and carry out administrative functions.
The public may listen to the open portion of the meeting, including the vote to go into closed session, by calling 425-436-6365 and entering access code 6084054 followed by the pound/hashtag symbol.
The public may not listen to the closed session portion of the meeting.
Also on September 14, as previously announced, the Board will hold a virtual public workshop to discuss the reopening of schools. That workshop begins at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on AACPS-TV and AACPS’ YouTube channel.