The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County will receive an update on the Curriculum for Agricultural Science Education (CASE) program in place at two county schools at its next meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 16, 2022.
The CASE program is an initiative of the National Council for Agricultural Education which aims to help students to become aware of agriculturally related careers and empower teachers to prepare students for the agriculture careers of the present and future. It is currently in place at Southern High School and the Phoenix Academy, with plans to expand it to the Center of Applied Technology – North next year. The agriculture-focused Future Farmers of America co-curricular club that many Case program students join will also be highlighted during Wednesday’s presentation.
Also at the meeting, the Board will, for the first time, hear details of a new policy to support pregnant and parenting students. The policy will be before the Board twice more before it can be adopted.
A complete agenda for the meeting can be found here. More information on agenda items will be posted on the AACPS website in the Board Docs section under the Board of Education tab.
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.
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.
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 either in-person or virtual 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 or who need other accessibility accommodations for Board of Education meetings should call 410-222-5311 to make those arrangements.
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.
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., April 5, 2022. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 14 823 893#.
- Equity Committee: 11:30 a.m., March 8, 2022. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 583 399 431#.
- Budget Committee: noon, March 14, 2021. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 376 735 006#.
BOARD WORKSHOP ON BRIGHTSPACE LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County will hold a public workshop next week to learn more from Superintendent George Arlotto and school system staff about the Brightspace learning management system.
The workshop will cover a variety of aspects related to Brightspace, including features related to face-to-face, blended, and online learning.
This is the fifth in a series of workshops to take place this school year which will allow the Board to have more in-depth discussions with Dr. Arlotto and his staff on a variety of topics important to the education of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools students. Previous workshops – covering social issues in the classroom, charter/contract schools, the Blueprint for Maryland’s future, and kindergarten readiness – can be found on AACPS’ YouTube channel.
The workshop will begin at 6:00 p.m. on March 14, 2022, in the Board Room of the Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in Annapolis. It is open to the public, but no public questions or testimony will be taken.
The workshop 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. It will also be streamed live on AACPS’ YouTube channel.
Prior to the workshop, the Board will 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 negotiations matters and obtain legal advice as permitted by the Maryland Open Meetings Act. Closed session is not open to the public.