The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County will consider an adjustment of the current year school calendar and adoption of the 2022-23 calendar at its next meeting, scheduled for noon on Wednesday, January 5, 2022.
At its December 1, 2021, meeting, the Board asked Superintendent George Arlotto to consider options related to a systemwide closure for students and staff on May 3, 2022. The day is currently designated as a professional development day, with schools closed for students.
The Board is also scheduled to formally adopt the 2022-23 School Year Calendar. The two options that the Board has considered to date can be found here . Board Member Corine Frank is offering two alternatives to those options that call for the first day of classes for students to shift to September 1, 2022, with other characteristics of those calendars remaining the same. Visual representations of those calendars will be available at the above link on January 3, 2022.
Also at the meeting, the Board will get a briefing on the Fiscal Year 2023 revenue outlook from Anne Arundel County Government officials. The information will be important as the Board works through its FY2023 budgetary process.
The meeting will be held in the Board Room at the Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in 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 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.
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.
To provide the most equitable and orderly opportunity for speakers with a diversity of viewpoints and varying technology access, the Board will 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.
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, 1-5-22
FY2023 BUDGET HEARINGS, WORKSHOP
The Board has scheduled two public hearings and a public workshop on Dr. Arlotto’s FY2023 budget recommendation. Public hearings will be held on Tuesday, January 4, 2022, at Old Mill High School, and Thursday, January 6, 2022, in the Board Room at the Parham Building in Annapolis. Both hearings begin at 6 p.m., with testimony limited to two minutes per person.
Testimony at the January 4 hearing will be in person only, with those wishing to testify able to sign up at Old Mill High School beginning at 5 p.m. and concluding when the hearing begins at 6 p.m. There will be no online registration to testify at the January 4 hearing.
Testimony at the January 6 hearing will be virtual and in person. Those wishing to testify virtually may sign up at a link that will be made public here at 3 p.m. on Monday, January 3. Registration will close at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, January 5.
Those wishing to testify in person at the January 6 hearing may sign up at the Parham Building beginning at 5 p.m. and concluding when the hearing begins at 6 p.m. The Board will hear virtual testimony first at the January 6 hearing.
Speakers may only testify at one hearing.
The Board will also hold a public workshop on Dr. Arlotto’s budget recommendation at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, January 18, 2022, in the Board Room at the Parham Building.
No budget-related public testimony will be taken at the workshop or at the February 16, 2022, meeting at which the Board is scheduled to approve its budget request. Should the Board offer amendments at the February 16 meeting, testimony will be taken on the amendments only. The Board has also scheduled time to meet on February 17, 2022, if it is necessary to complete work on its budget request.
The January 6 public hearing and the January 18 public workshop will be broadcast live on AACPS-TV and on AACPS’ YouTube channel. The January 4 public hearing will not be broadcast or streamed online.
Dr. Arlotto’s full Fiscal Year 2023 operating and capital budget recommendations, as well as a text of his budget address and a Budget in Brief document can be found at www.aacps.org/fy2023budget.
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., January 4, 2022. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 503 872 279#
- Equity Committee: 11:30 a.m., January 12, 2022. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 279 837 00#.
- Budget Committee: noon, February 14, 2021. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 962 792 952#.