Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Bedell will present his recommended Fiscal Year 2027 operating and capital budgets at the next meeting of the Board of Education of Anne Arundel County, scheduled for Wednesday, December 17, 2025.
The budgets chart the course for the school system for the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2026. The Board will conduct two public hearings and a public workshop (details below) on Dr. Bedell’s recommendation before adopting a budget request to forward to County Executive Steuart Pittman in February. The County Executive’s proposal will be considered by the County Council before it adopts an operating budget that allocates funding within state-established categories and a capital budget that prescribes funding for school construction projects in June.
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the Board will hear a presentation on the school district’s Long Range Facility Master Plan.
Wednesday’s meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Board Room of the Carol S. 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.
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.
A complete agenda for the meeting can be found on the Board meeting page. More information on agenda items will be posted on the AACPS website in the Board Docs section under the Board of Education tab.
PUBLIC COMMENT AT BOARD MEETINGS
The Board will hear public comments from up to 10 total speakers (virtual and in-person combined) per agenda item during a single public comment section in the early portion of the meeting. Additionally, up to 10 speakers can comment on non-agenda items towards the end of the meeting.
Procedures and protocols for public comment, including items for which the Board will not accept comment, can be found on the Board meeting page. Links to register for public comment or submit written comment will be live on the Board meeting page at 3 p.m. on the Friday before the Board meeting.
The general session of the meeting will be broadcast live on AACPS-TV and on AACPS’ YouTube channel.
BUDGET HEARINGS, WORKSHOP
The Board has scheduled two public hearings and a public workshop on Dr. Bedell’s budget recommendation for next month.
Public hearings will be held on Tuesday, January 6, 2026, at Severn Run High School, and Thursday, January 8, 2026, in the Board Room at the Parham Building in Annapolis. Both hearings begin at 6 p.m. The workshop will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, in the Board Room at the Parham Building.
Testimony at the hearings will be limited to two minutes per person. No budget-related public testimony will be taken at the workshop or at the February 18, 2026, meeting at which the Board is scheduled to adopt its budget request. Should the Board offer amendments at the February 18, 2026, meeting, testimony will be taken on the amendments only. The Board has also scheduled time to meet on February 19, 2026, if it is necessary to complete work on its budget request.
The January 8 public hearing and the January 20 workshop will be broadcast live on AACPS-TV and on AACPS’ YouTube channel.
Dr. Bedell’s full Fiscal Year 2027 operating and capital budget recommendations, as well as a text of his budget address and a Budget in Brief document, will be posted at www.aacps.org/fy27budget no later than December 18, 2025.
BOARD WORKSHOP ON MARYLAND REPORT CARD
The Board will also hold a public workshop to discuss information related to the recently released Maryland Report Card results at 6 p.m. on Monday, December 15, 2025, in the Board Room. The Maryland Report Card provides schools across the state with star ratings calculated from a variety of academic, attendance, and curriculum factors.
Fifteen AACPS schools earned five-star ratings on the latest report card, 48 earned four stars and 49 earned three stars. Overall, 95 percent of AACPS schools earned ratings of three or more stars on the latest report card.
The workshop will be held in the Board Room of the Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in Annapolis. It is open to the public, but no public questions or testimony will be taken.
The workshop will be broadcast live on AACPS-TV and on AACPS’ YouTube channel.
BOARD 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., January 6, 2026. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 795 215 690#.
Budget Committee: Noon, January 12, 2026. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 943 958 79#.
Equity Committee: Noon, March 24, 2026. Call 301-960-3676, enter the Conference ID 644 861 382#.