Superintendent George Arlotto will present his recommended operating and capital budgets for Fiscal Year 2022 at the next meeting of the Board of Education of Anne Arundel County, scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, December 16, 2020.
The budgets chart the course for the school system for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2021. The Board will conduct two public hearings and a public workshop on the budget before adopting a budget request to forward to County Executive Steuart Pittman in February. The County Executive’s proposal will be considered by the County Council before it adopts an operating budget that allocates funding within state-established categories and a capital budget that prescribes funding for school construction projects in June.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions, Wednesday’s meeting will be held virtually.
This will be the first Board meeting for new members Robert Silkworth of District 2, Corine Frank of District 3, and Joanna Bache Tobin of District 6. The three took their oaths of office on Monday, giving the Board seven elected members and one student member.
PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS
The Board will hear live public comment on agenda items from up to 10 speakers per agenda item during a single section in the early portion of each meeting prior to Board discussion of those items. Those wishing to provide live testimony may register, space permitting, by clicking here. All speakers will be allotted 2 minutes and those who secure spaces to speak will receive emailed instructions on how to join the meeting.
Written comments on agenda items can be submitted via email to boardoffice@aacps.org or dropped off at the Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in Annapolis, by noon on the day before a Board meeting. Comments on non-agenda items are now only accepted in writing.
The complete process for registering to speak and submitting testimony in writing can be found here.
Those who require the services of an interpreter to offer comment to the Board should call 410-222-5311 to make those arrangements after receiving confirmation of an opportunity to speak at the meeting.
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.
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, 12-16-20
BUDGET HEARINGS, WORKSHOP
The Board of Education has scheduled two virtual public hearings and a virtual public workshop on Dr. Arlotto’s budget recommendation. Public hearings will be held on Tuesday, January 5 2021, and Thursday, January 7, 2021. Both are limited to 100 speakers who will be allotted two minutes each.
Those wishing to sign up to speak at the January 5 hearing may do so here.
Those wishing to sign up to speak at the January 7 hearing may do so here.
Due to space limitations, those wishing to testify may do so at only one of the two budget hearings.
The Board will also hold a virtual public workshop on Dr. Arlotto’s budget recommendation at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, January 19, 2021. No budget-related public testimony will be taken at the workshop or at the February 17, 2021, meeting at which the Board is scheduled to adopt the budget. Should the Board offer amendments at the February 17 meeting, testimony will be taken on the amendments.
The hearings and workshop will be broadcast live on AACPS-TV and on AACPS’ YouTube channel.
Dr. Arlotto’s full Fiscal Year 2022 operating and capital budget recommendations, as well as a text of his budget address and a Budget in Brief document, will be posted at www.aacps.org/fy2022budget on December 17.
BOARD TO MEET IN CLOSED SESSION
The Board will also meet in a public session at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, December 15, 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 may listen to the open portion of the meeting, including the vote to go into closed session, by calling (605) 468-8781 and entering access code 685333 followed by the pound/hashtag symbol.
BOARD POLICY, BUDGET COMMITTEES TO MEET
The Board of Education’s Policy and Budget committees will each hold virtual meetings next week, according to the following schedule:
- The Policy Committee will meet virtually at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 16, 2020. The committee is charged with discussing policies being examined by the school system before they are forwarded to the full Board of Education for review. Wednesday’s meeting is open to the public. Those wishing to access it may do so by telephone by calling 301-960-3676 and entering access code 127390080#.
- The Budget Committee will meet virtually at 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, December 16, 2020. The committee examines issues related to the Board of Education’s departmental budget as well as the construction of Anne Arundel County Public Schools’ operating and capital budgets. Wednesday’s meeting is open to the public. Those wishing to access it may do so by telephone by calling 301-960-3676 and entering access code 710571612#.