The Board of Education will hear a presentation of the significance of high school student capstone projects and discuss three new proposed courses at its next meeting, scheduled for noon on Wednesday, May 10, 2023.
Capstone projects are multifaceted bodies of work that serve as culminating academic and intellectual experiences for students. As part of their projects, students gain hands-on experience to think critically and creatively and solve challenging, relevant, and authentic problems in the world around them while growing their personal and professional confidence and independence.
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.
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the Board will discuss the impact on the school system of the Fiscal Year 2024 budget proposed by Steuart Pittman and now being considered by the County Council.
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 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.
UPDATED PROCESS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA ITEMS
The Board will hear testimony:
- from up to 10 total speakers (combination of virtual and in person) per agenda item (excluding personnel items, reports, and recognitions) during a single public comment section in the early portion of the meeting.
- from up to 10 total speakers on items not on the agenda (excluding any student-specific or personnel items) near the end of the meeting.
The link to register to testify before the Board will be published at www.aacps.org/boardtestimony at 3 p.m. on the Friday prior to the meeting. Registration will close at noon on the Monday 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 but only once on any individual agenda item.
The following also apply:
- For any item with more than 10 registered speakers, the Board will employ a lottery process to select the speakers.
- Registrants 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 address the specifics of the agenda item for which they sign up. For details on the specifics of agenda items, click on the Board Docs link found at aacps.org/board. Comments about student-specific items and/or personnel matters are not accepted. Because the Board will be holding hearings specific to any redistricting plans to be developed in the coming months, it will not accept testimony on redistricting at this meeting.
- Written comments on agenda items can be submitted through an online form that can be at aacps.org/boardtestimony beginning at 3 p.m. on the Friday prior to a Board meeting. Written comments must be no more than 250 words and must be submitted by noon on the day prior to a Board meeting. Comments can also be dropped off at the Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in Annapolis, by that time.
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 complete process for registering to speak and submitting testimony in writing can be found here.
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 Astound, and Channel 36 on Verizon. High-definition broadcasts can be seen on Channel 996 on Comcast, Channel 496 on Astound, 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.
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 by telephone through the codes listed below.
- Policy Committee: 3 p.m., May 9, 2023. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 900 011 435#.
- Budget Committee: noon, May 22, 2023. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 332 967 862#.
- Equity Committee: 3 p.m., May 23, 2023. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 107-046 284#.