The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County tonight unanimously adopted Fiscal Year 2024 operating and capital budget requests to forward to County Executive Steuart Pittman for consideration as he develops the county’s overall budget for the coming year.
The Board made one change to the operating budget recommended by Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Bedell in December, adding one constituent services position to serve as the primary liaison between Board members and the community. The Board made no changes to Dr. Bedell’s capital budget request. Several other adjustments were made to reflect proposals contained in Gov. Wes Moore’s recently released FY2024 budget.
OPERATING BUDGET REQUEST
The Board’s operating budget request is $149.2 million more than the current year’s budget. It allocates $80.8 million for additional compensation for employees, contracted bus drivers, and substitute teachers, sufficient, subject to negotiations with applicable bargaining units, for a step increase or step equivalent for all eligible employees and a 6 percent cost-of-living increase for all employees. It also includes a $2,000 bonus for special education teachers, funding for 30 additional minutes of additional work per day for eligible Unit 4 employees; fulfillment of costs for Blueprint-mandated stipends for National Board Certified Teachers; the third straight year of a $5-per-day increase for substitute teachers; and the second consecutive year of a 10 percent COLA for contracted bus drivers.
The request also includes funding for 148.8 positions in special education; 21 English Language Development teachers and assistants; 12 assistant principals; and 10 teaching assistants and permanent substitutes. There also is funding for 62 positions to move the Virtual Academy from grant funding to the general operating budget as federal ESSER funds provided during the COVID-19 pandemic continue to expire.
The Board is also requesting:
- $2.6 million for 18 social-emotional wellness positions that include four school psychologists, three social workers, three school counselors, two pupil personnel workers, and funding to expand an elementary level alternative education program and create a new site in the Meade cluster.
- funding for three additional bilingual facilitators, one additional bilingual assistant for the International Student and Family Welcome Center, and a bilingual receptionist for the Transportation Department.
- funding for 9.5 positions to expand the Triple-E program to the seven elementary schools in the Old Mill cluster.
- $6.3 million to open the Chesapeake Science Point Charter School elementary program next year.
- $2.7 million in the first phase of funding to staff West County Elementary School and Old Mill High School West, which will open in the 2024-2025 school year.
- $9.5 million for Blueprint mandates, including the dual enrollment initiative with Anne Arundel Community College, career counseling through the Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation, and funding to expand the community schools program.
CAPITAL BUDGET REQUEST
The Board’s $197 million FY2024 capital budget request contains $132.4 million for major capital projects that include construction at the following schools, in priority order:
- West County Elementary School construction, $12.6 million
- Old Mill Middle School South construction, $37.3 million
- Center of Applied Technology – North construction, $58.4 million
- Old Mill Middle School North design/construction, $11.4 million
- Old Mill High School design/construction, $12.7 million
The Old Mill High School request is for a new facility on the school’s current Patriot Lane site and separate from the construction of Old Mill High School West, which is being built on the former Papa John’s Farm in Severn.
NEXT STEPS
The Board’s requests will be forwarded to County Executive Pittman, who will consider them as part of the overall Fiscal Year 2024 budget recommendation he will deliver to the County Council in May. The Council will hold public hearings before finalizing a budget by June 15.
The Board is scheduled to adopt a final budget on June 26, 2023.