COMPREHENSIVE REDISTRICTING PROCESS

To best utilize available space in school facilities across the county, Anne Arundel County Public Schools is undertaking a comprehensive process that will examine all school boundary lines.

This is a two-phase process that will help to fill the more than 16,000 empty seats in AACPS schools. The first phase will involve the northern part of the county and will be done as part of a plan to develop attendance zones for the new Old Mill High School West and West County Elementary School, both of which will open in the 2024-2025 school year. The second phase, which will examine school boundaries in the remaining portion of the county, will begin after the northern process has concluded and those changes have been implemented.

Phase I

In addition to drawing boundaries for Old Mill High School West and West County Elementary School, the first phase will examine schools in the Chesapeake, Glen Burnie, Meade, North County, Northeast and Old Mill clusters.

Consultant WXY Studio has developed two potential scenarios on which Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mark Bedell is seeking comment. These are not recommendations, but potential scenarios.

An interactive web tool, through which the public can view the scenarios as well as see current school assignments for their residence and how they may be impacted in either scenario, can be found on this page. (Note: Impacts of any potential actions for Phase 2 schools and clusters are not shown on the map at this time since those potential scenarios have not been developed.)

Comments on the potential scenarios will be accepted through May 31, 2023. Dr. Bedell and his staff will examine and consider all comments before Dr. Bedell delivers his recommendation to the Board of Education in July 2023. The Board will then select an option or options to take to public hearing and solicit additional public comment in October 2023 before adopting a plan for Phase 1 in November 2023. The plan adopted by the Board will go into effect in August 2024. The Board has the authority to develop options other than the scenarios presented by the consulted or any recommendation from Dr. Bedell.
Phase 2

The second phase of the redistricting process will examine schools in the Annapolis, Arundel, Broadneck, Crofton, Severna Park, South River, and Southern clusters.

As is the case in Phase 1, Consultant WXY Studio will develop potential scenarios on which Dr. Bedell will seek comment. Again, these will not be recommendations, but potential scenarios. It is possible for a residence to be impacted in both scenarios, but Dr. Bedell has made it clear that he would attempt to minimize such instances as much as possible.

An interactive web tool through which the public can view the potential scenarios as well as see school assignments for their residence and how they may be impacted in Phase 2 will be active in February 2025. (Note: Impacts of any potential actions for Phase 2 schools and clusters are not shown on the map at this time since those potential scenarios have not been developed.)

Comments on the potential scenarios will be accepted through May 31, 2025. Dr. Bedell and his staff will examine all comments before Dr. Bedell delivers his recommendation to the Board of Education in July 2025. The board will then select an option or options to take to public hearing in October 2025 before adopting a plan for Phase 1 in November 2025. The plan adopted by the Board will go into effect in August 2026. The Board has the authority to develop options other than the scenarios presented by the consulted or any recommendation from Dr. Bedell.

The Board conducted a public workshop during which it reviewed the restricting process on January 2, 2023. That workshop can be reviewed here.