The Board of Education has formally approved a $1.69 billion operating budget for Fiscal Year 2025 that continues to address key critical needs facing Anne Arundel County Public Schools as the school system continues to strive to meet mandates set out by the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future and adjust to the elimination of COVID-related grant funding.
The Board made no changes to the operating budget approved late last week by the County Council. The plan, approved at Tuesday night’s meeting, contains 134.2 new positions, including 30 to address Blueprint mandates that include a significant increase in the number of community schools. It also provides 93 positions to staff the new Two Rivers Elementary School and Severn Run High School, both of which are scheduled to open in August.
The budget also reallocates about $3 million in funding originally intended for the New Village Academy Public Charter School, which will now not open until the fall of 2025. That funding will now go to provide eight additional teaching positions to address elementary classes sizes higher than 30 and to continue class coverage payments for teachers who must fill in for absent colleagues when no substitute can be found. It also will pay for the continuation of virtual tutoring and virtual homework help programs, which had been funded by grants that are now expiring.
“This budget process has been collaborative from the outset and the County has once again shown itself to be a partner to the greatest extent that it can,” Board President Robert Silkworth said. “As is the case with any budget, there are difficult decisions that have to be made. However, I believe that as it relates to our school system, all those involved in this process have kept our students in the forefront of their minds and provided us with funding that puts us in a better position than some other jurisdictions to help those students. ”
The budget also provides $51 million to continue to chip away at compensation deficits compared to other school systems. The budget funds a step increase for eligible employees, step-equivalents for bargaining units without steps and non-represented employees, and a 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment for all employees.
Just prior to adopting the budget Tuesday night, the Board approved negotiated agreements with three of its four employee bargaining units: The Association of Educational Leaders, which represents school-based administrators; the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Local 1693, which represents custodians, some bus drivers, food services employees, and maintenance workers; and the Secretaries and Assistants Association of Anne Arundel County, which represents secretaries and administrative assistants.
Those employees and those not represented by a bargaining unit will receive increases on July 1. The Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County and the Board have yet to agree on a new contract. Since compensation must be set forth in a negotiated agreement, employees represented by TAAAC, which include classroom teachers and school counselors, will not receive increases until an agreement is reached.
CAPITAL BUDGET
The $184.4 million capital budget adopted by the Board contains more than $118 million in funding for construction projects for new schools at the Center of Applied Technology – North, the current Old Mill High School, and Old Mill Middle School North. The projects will see CAT-North and Old Mill High School located on the current Old Mill complex site, and Old Mill Middle School North located on the current CAT-North site.
The capital budget also provides $32.3 million for building systems renovations, $7 million to continue reducing the maintenance backlog, $4 million for athletic stadium improvements, and $3 million for school bus replacements. More than $1.3 million is dedicated to the design of a new school bus facility.