The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County will hold an in-person special session at 6 p.m. on Monday, October 11, 2021, to consider a plan being put forth by Superintendent George Arlotto to boost compensation for school bus drivers and attendants.
Dr. Arlotto is asking the Board to approve a $7.4 million FY2022 recurring supplemental operating budget request to the Anne Arundel County Government to provide funds sufficient for Anne Arundel County Public Schools’ school transportation contractors to provide every one of their school bus drivers and bus attendants with a $5 per hour wage increase subject to contract modifications.
The funding would also cover increases for AACPS-employed drivers and attendants, pending the outcome of negotiations with the applicable bargaining unit, as a step toward addressing long-standing compensation and staffing issues exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the current national bus driver shortage. Additionally, the package also contemplates reaching an agreement with contractors on compensating bus drivers and attendants for a full eight-hour workday.
Dr. Arlotto’s plan, developed in consultation with the Anne Arundel County Workforce Development Corporation, also includes $2.1 million to provide for $2,000 signing bonuses to attract new bus drivers and attendants and retention bonuses for existing drivers and attendants, to be paid in installments over the course of the school year. The first installment of the bonuses would be paid immediately using County American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds, with the second and third installments paid across the remainder of the school year using County ARP funding.
Any request approved by the Board would be forwarded to County Executive Steuart Pittman. A supplemental operating budget request would have to be formally approved by the County Council, but the County Executive can agree to disburse the ARP funding for retention bonuses immediately without Council approval.
The Board will also meet in a public session at 5 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.
Board of Education meeting agenda, 10-11-21
PROCESS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
The Board will hear in-person and virtual public comment on the sole agenda item from up to a total of 10 speakers during a designated time allotment in the meeting, prior to Board discussion of the topic.
To provide the most equitable and orderly opportunity for speakers with a diversity of viewpoints and varying technology access, the Board employs a randomized, computerized lottery to select the 10 speakers when more than 10 people sign up to offer comment.
The link to register for virtual testimony at the meeting is posted online here 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. There is only one agenda item for this special session.
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 the meeting topic can be submitted now through an online form that can be found here. Written comments must be no more than 250 words and must be submitted by 9 a.m. on the day of this special session. 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.
The open portion of this special session 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.