The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County will conduct a public hearing and is scheduled to vote on initial approval of Superintendent George Arlotto’s proposed Fiscal Year 2023 Capital Budget at its next meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, September 22, 2021.
Dr. Arlotto’s $193 million recommendation, which can be found here, was presented to the Board on September 1, and the Board held a public workshop on it on September 9.
After approval 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 FY2023 budget request, to be forwarded to the County Executive in February 2022 after the Board holds additional public hearings. The County Council will review that plan and adopt a final capital budget for the school system by June 2022.
Those wishing to testify either in person or virtually during the public hearing on the capital budget recommendation should register through this link. Speakers will be allotted 2 minutes, and testimony must pertain directly to items related to the capital budget.
At the meeting, the Board will also get an update on the opening of schools from Dr. Arlotto. County Health Officer Dr. Nilesh Kalyanaraman will also be part of the update.
The Board will also discuss its Fiscal Year 2023 budget priorities.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. and will be held in the Board Room at the Parham Building, 2644 Riva Road, Annapolis. It is open to the public and subject to normal space limitations in the Board Room.
Regulations adopted by the Maryland State Board of Education require that all persons inside school or school system facilities be masked unless exempted under the law.
The Board will also meet in a public session at 4 p.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.
REVISED 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 the meeting, prior to Board discussion of those items.
To provide the most equitable and orderly opportunity for speakers with a diversity of viewpoints and varying technology access, the Board will now employ a randomized, computerized lottery to select the 10 speakers for any agenda item on which more than 10 people sign up to offer comment.
The link to register for virtual testimony at the meeting will be posted online here at 3 p.m. on the Friday prior to the meeting and will close at 11:59 p.m. on the Sunday prior to the meeting. Those wishing to provide testimony must register through that link. Speakers may sign up for no more than two agenda items.
Please note that registration for the public hearing on the capital budget is separate from the public comment section of the meeting.
For agenda items with more than 10 registered speakers, the lottery selection procedures will be as follows:
- If more than 10 people indicate their first choice for a specific agenda item, the lottery for that agenda item will be conducted among those registrants only. Those who indicate that agenda item as their second choice will not be considered and may provide written comment as outlined below.
- If fewer than 10 people indicate their first choice for a specific agenda item but a sufficient additional number of people indicate that agenda item as their second choice, spaces will be allocated to the first-choice registrants and a lottery will be conducted for remaining spaces.
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.
Written comments on agenda items can be submitted through an online form that can be found here beginning at 3 p.m. on the Friday prior to the 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 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.
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, 9-22-21
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: 3:00 p.m., October 4, 2021. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 588 606 284#.
- Equity Committee: 11:30 a.m., October 12, 2021. Access codes will be announced when they are established.
- Budget Committee: 3:00 p.m., October 19, 2021. Access codes will be announced when they are established.