The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County is scheduled to discuss and vote on the appointment of Dr. Mark Bedell as the next Superintendent of Anne Arundel County Public Schools at a special meeting, scheduled for Friday, June 17, 2022. The meeting will begin at 2:30 p.m. in the Board Room of the Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in Annapolis.
Dr. Bedell has been the superintendent of Kansas City Public Schools since 2016 and has earned high acclaim for his work in restoring the district’s full accreditation, closing achievement gaps, and raising the school system’s graduation rate. Prior to his current position, he served as a school improvement officer for the Houston Independent School District and as the assistant superintendent for high schools for Baltimore County Public Schools. He is also a former Anne Arundel County resident.
Subject to the Board’s formal appointment and approval of a contract, Dr. Bedell’s four-year term will begin on July 1, 2022. As Dr. Bedell transitions to AACPS and relocates to Anne Arundel County with his family, an acting superintendent will be designated to serve from July 1, 2022, until August 8, 2022.
A complete agenda for the meeting can be found here.
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 noon today and will close at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15. 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 noon today. Written comments must be no more than 250 words and must be submitted by noon on Thursday, June 16. Comments can also be dropped off at the Parham Building by that time.
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 public portion of Friday’s 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.