The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County is scheduled to adopt a redistricting plan for the northern portion of the county at its next meeting, set for Wednesday, November 15, 2023.
Phase 1 of the redistricting process will establish attendance areas for Old Mill West High School and West County Elementary School while balancing enrollments across schools in the Chesapeake, Glen Burnie, Meade, North County, Northeast, and Old Mill clusters. A plan adopted by the Board is scheduled to go into effect in August 2024. More information on the plans under consideration can be found here.
Also at the meeting, the Board will be presented with the 2024-2025 school year calendar as recommended by the AACPS Calendar Committee. After the meeting, the recommended calendar will be posted online and the Board will accept public comment on it prior to voting on adoption of an official calendar at its December 6, 2023, meeting.
The November 15 meeting of the Board begins at 6:30 p.m. and will be held in the Board Room of 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.
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. Protocols, procedures, and expectations for those attending the meeting can be found here.
The Board will also meet in a public session at 4:30 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 public comment from up to 10 total speakers (virtual and in-person combined) per agenda item (excluding personnel items, reports, presentations, and recognitions) during a single public comment section in the early portion of the meeting. Additionally, up to 10 speakers can comment on non-agenda items, excluding student-specific or personnel matters, towards the end of the meeting.
Because the Board held a public hearing specific to redistricting plans on October 16, it will not accept comments on redistricting at the November 15 meeting.
To register for public comment, visit www.aacps.org/boardcomment from 3 p.m. on the Friday before the meeting until noon on the Monday before. Speakers can sign up for a maximum of two agenda items but only once for each item. If there are more than 10 registered speakers for an item, a lottery will be used to select the speakers.
Registered speakers will be notified via email. Each speaker has a 2-minute time limit and must address the specific agenda item for which they are registered.
Written comments on agenda items (250-word maximum) can also be submitted online or dropped off at the Parham Building in Annapolis. Those needing interpreter services or accessibility accommodations should call 410-222-5311.
The general session of the meeting will be broadcast live on AACPS-TV and on AACPS’ YouTube channel. Archived videos of past meetings are available online.
BOARD WORKSHOP AND PUBLIC FORUM
The Board will hold a public workshop at 6 p.m. on Monday, November 13, to hear updates from Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Bedell and his staff on the school system’s work with the iReady diagnostic assessment used in math and reading in kindergarten through 8th grade and follow that with an open topic public forum.
Both the workshop and the forum are open to the public and will be held in the Board Room of the Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in Annapolis. While the workshop is open to the public, no public questions or testimony will be taken.
At 7 p.m. on Monday, November 13, the Board will hold a public forum to hear opinions and input from students, families, employees, and community partners on items of interest to them.
Comments will be delivered in person and virtually and will be limited to 50 people. Speakers will have two minutes each to deliver their remarks and must sign up prior to the hearing. Speakers may not address student-specific or personnel matters.
The link to register to speak at the hearing can be found here. It will close at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, November 11, 2023. Those wishing to provide comment must register through that link.
If more than 50 people sign up to speak, the Board will employ a randomized, computerized lottery to select the 50 speakers who will comment at the hearing.
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.
- Equity Committee: Noon, November 28, 2023. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 284 202 786#.
- Policy Committee: 3 p.m., December 5, 2023. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 457 348 996#.
- Budget Committee: Noon, January 16, 2024. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 167 431 216#.