The Board of Education of Anne Arundel County unanimously approved a $1.78 billion operating budget for Fiscal Year 2026 tonight that addresses the key priorities of special education, employee compensation, multilingual learners and early literacy shared by the Board and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Bedell.
The Board made no changes to the budget approved on June 13 by the County Council. In adopting its budget, the Council added two special education teachers and sufficient funding to provide National Board Certified school counselors with an additional $10,000 in compensation per year to the plan presented to it by County Executive Steuart Pittman.
The budget approved by the Board tonight represents a $93.2 million increase over the current year and includes an additional 65 positions. Thirty of those positions are in special education, with another 24.9 dedicated to expansion of community schools under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future. In addition, there are 10 English Language Development teachers and two additional bilingual facilitators to assist multilingual learners. The budget also provides funding to move six existing bilingual facilitator positions from 10-month to 12-month schedules to better support families.
“As we continue to work in a time where the Blueprint requires more dedicated allocation of funding to specific areas in our budget, I am delighted that Dr. Bedell, County Executive Pittman and the County Council continue to work largely in concert with our Board to benefit our school system,” Board of Education President Robert Silkworth said. “We are enormously grateful for that partnership and our students and employees are the clear beneficiaries. Continuing to enhance the education we provide helps everyone in our county.”
The operating budget also includes staffing to add four prekindergarten classrooms. It also funds:
a new learning management system that will allow more seamless interaction for teachers, families, and students.
the continuation of the middle school athletics program, which began this spring.
a pilot program that will employ non-invasive weapons detective systems at schools.
EMPLOYEE COMPENSATION
The approved operating budget contains $58.2 million for employee compensation increases and benefits costs. Pending negotiations with employee bargaining units, that is sufficient for a step or step equivalent for all eligible employees as well as a 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment for all employees. Over and above the step and COLA increases, the plan includes nearly $5.3 million in targeted increases specific to each employee bargaining unit.
The Board tonight approved negotiated agreements with the Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County (representing teachers and student support staff) and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 1693 (representing bus drivers, food service workers and facilities and maintenance personnel), both of which contain funding for the step and COLA increases. The AFSCME agreement brings compensation for all Unit III employees to at least $18 per hour.
It also approved Terms of Employment for non-represented employees that contain funding for the step equivalent increases and COLAs. The Board has yet to reach agreements with either the Association of Educational Leaders, which represents school-based administrators, or the Secretaries and Administrative Assistants Association of Anne Arundel County.
CAPITAL BUDGET
The Board also unanimously approved the $196.5 million capital budget passed by the County Council on June 13. That budget contains nearly $120 million in major capital projects for the final three schools in the Old Mill Master Plan:
Center of Applied Technology North, $13.0 million
Old Mill High School, $77.1 million
Old Mill Middle School North, $29.7 million
The new Old Mill High School is planned for the property where the current school is located. That property will also be home to the new Center of Applied Technology North, with the new Old Mill Middle School North being constructed on the current CAT North property.
The Board’s capital budget request also includes:
$34.7 million for building systems renovations.
$8 million to continue to reduce the maintenance backlog.
$5 million for kindergarten and prekindergarten additions.
$4.6 million to construct a new school bus facility and lot, a project recommended by the Prismatic audit commissioned by the Board.
$4.1 million for athletic stadium improvements.
$2 million for security-related upgrades.
The operating and capital budgets go into effect on July 1, 2025.