The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County will hear more details on the planned AACPS Virtual Academy and subsequently vote on whether to approve the initiative at its next meeting, scheduled for June 2, 2021.
The Board heard an overview of the school system’s plans for the fully virtual school, which will be open to a limited number of students in grades 3 through 12, at its May 19 meeting. It must give formal approval before the application may be submitted to the Maryland State Department of Education.
Also at the meeting, the Board will hear an update from Prismatic Services, Inc., the consultant it has hired to assist in developing bus routing for new school start and dismissal times.
The meeting will begin at noon and will be held in the Board Room at the Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in Annapolis. At this time, as the Board continues moving toward resumption of fully in-person meetings without health and safety limitations, public attendance at the meeting will be limited to those offering in-person public comment to the Board and only during the portion of the meeting when public testimony is being taken.
PROCESS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS
The Board will hear in-person 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. No virtual testimony will be taken.
The link to register to deliver in-person testimony at the meeting will be posted online here at 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 30, 2021. Those wishing to provide in-person testimony must register, space permitting, through that link. In order to allow for a maximum diversity of those who wish to comment, the Board will allocate speakers by their first choice of agenda item on a first-come, first-served basis until available slots are filled. Should additional spots remain open, speakers will be allocated their second choice, again on a first-come, first-served basis. Speakers may sign up to comment on no more than two agenda items.
Speakers who secure a slot to speak will be notified by email at the email address they provide when they register. All speakers will be allotted 2 minutes Registration will be open through 5 p.m. on the evening before the Board meeting or until all spaces are allocated.
Written comments on agenda items can be submitted through an online form that can be found here beginning at 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 30, 2021. Written comments must be no more than 250 words and must be submitted by noon on the day prior to the Board meeting. Comments can also be dropped off at the Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in Annapolis, by that time.
Comments on non-agenda items are 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.
The Board will also meet in a public session at 10 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 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.
The public portion of the meeting will resume at noon.
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 AACPS’ YouTube channel.
Archived videos of Board meetings can be found online here.
Agenda for 6-2-21 Board of Education meeting
UPCOMING COMMITTEE MEETINGS
The Board of Education’s committees will hold upcoming virtual meetings according to the following schedule. The meetings will not be broadcast, but those wishing to listen to the meetings can access them through the codes listed below.
- Policy Committee: 3:30 p.m. June 1, 2021. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 770968891#.
- Budget Committee: 3:30 p.m., June 15, 2021. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 587299576#.
- Equity Committee: To be determined.