The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County will conduct two special virtual meetings next week at which it will hear a public presentation from Superintendent George Arlotto of Anne Arundel County Public Schools’ hybrid reopening plan and consider the options related to resumption of athletics and other extracurricular activities. The meetings, scheduled for October 5 and 6, 2020, will be in addition to the Board’s regularly scheduled October 7, 2020, meeting.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2020
Dr. Arlotto will publicly detail AACPS’ hybrid reopening plan, set to launch later this calendar year, at a meeting that will begin at 5 p.m. The plan has been developed through the work of the school system’s 14 reopening committees, discussions with Board members, and consultation with the Anne Arundel County Department of Health and others.
To ensure the opportunity for public input during the meeting, the Board will accept written public comment on this agenda item. 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 4 p.m. on Friday, October 2, 2020.
Testimony 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.
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.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2020
The Board will hear information related to two plans to allow for the start of high school athletics that have been endorsed by the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association at a meeting set to begin at 6 p.m. The first option, announced on September 11, 2020, allows school systems to begin athletic competitions in February but hold limited in-person practices this fall. A second option, announced on September 24, 2020, allows school systems to resume high school fall athletics practices and subsequently hold competitions beginning as early as October 7, 2020, though logistics would prevent AACPS from beginning that early.
State rules require 20 calendar days between the first athletic practice and the first competition.
Dr. Arlotto and members of his team will also discuss options to hold other extracurricular activities such as marching band, dance company, drama clubs, and robotics and similar academic-oriented clubs.
To ensure the opportunity for public input during the public portion of the meeting, the Board will also accept written public comment on this agenda item. 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 4 p.m. on Monday, October 5, 2020.
Testimony 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.
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.
The Board will meet via telephone conference call at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 6, 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 to conduct collective bargaining negotiations or consider matters that relate to the negotiations.
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.
BROADCASTS OF MEETINGS
The October 5 meeting and the public session of the October 6 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.