The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County is scheduled to receive an update from Superintendent George Arlotto and members of his staff regarding summer learning opportunities for students across the county and the latest information about the school system’s plans for the fall at its next meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, July 7, 2021.
The meeting will be the first for new Student Member of the Board (SMOB) Bunmi Omisore, whose one-year term began on July 1. Omisore is the 48th SMOB and the only one in the nation on a local school board who has full voting rights.
The meeting, which will include the opportunity for both in-person and virtual public comment on agenda items as detailed below, will begin at noon and will be held in the Board Room at the Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in Annapolis.
The meeting will be the first since March 2020 that members of the public can attend with the only limitation being available space in the Board Room. Those attending should consider their own health as well as the health of others when deciding whether or not to wear a mask.
PROCESS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS
The Board will hear in-person and virtual public comment on agenda items from up to a total of 10 speakers per agenda item during a single section in the early portion of each meeting, prior to Board discussion of those items.
The link to register to deliver in-person or virtual testimony at the meeting will be posted online here at 5 p.m. on the Sunday prior to a Board meeting. Those wishing to provide 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 – regardless of whether they choose in-person or virtual testimony – 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 and must only address the topic on which they signed up to speak. 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 the Sunday prior to the Board meeting. 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.
Board of Education meeting agenda, 7-7-21
WORKSHOP ON EARLY LITERACY EFFORTS
The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County will hold a virtual workshop on the school system’s early literacy efforts at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, July 6, 2021.
The workshop follows a May presentation on the subject by Anne Arundel County Public Schools staff to the Board. That presentation covered the robust evidence-based early literacy curriculum and instructional delivery utilized to best meet the early reading needs of individual students. It also discussed screening of students in the primary grades to determine the most appropriate early literacy curricular path for each student to support current and future learning across all disciplines.
The workshop will be broadcast publicly on AACPS’ YouTube channel, www.aacps.org/youtube. No public comment will be taken at the workshop.
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: 11 a.m., July 6, 2021. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 999036997#.
- Budget Committee: To be determined.
- Equity Committee: To be determined.