Education Board Finalizes AACPS $1.37B Operating Budget

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Thursday morning, the Anne Arundel County Board of Education finalized a $1.37 billion fiscal year 2021 operating budget request and added $11.5 million and 58.5 positions to the recommendation AACPS Superintendent George Arlotto requested in December.

The overall request, approved by an 8-0 vote, calls for a total of 564.7 new positions, more than 92 percent of which are allocated to personnel who have daily contact with students, and more than $41.6 million in compensation increases for employees.

The board added $7.2 million, the equivalent of a one percent cost-of-living adjustment increase for all employees, to the $34.4 million in compensation increases recommended by Arlotto. If funded by the county, the compensation package would be sufficient to fund a step for all eligible employees, a three percent cost-of-living adjustment for all employees, and a back step for eligible employees who were in an eligible bargaining unit or position in the 2011-2012 school year. The specifics of final compensation packages must be negotiated between the board and employee bargaining units.

The board’s request is $96.6 million more than the fiscal year 2020 approved budget. It represents a 7.6 percent increase over the current year’s funding.

Among other items, the board added requests for nine school counselors, two bilingual teaching assistants, two bilingual facilitators and three community ambassadors. It also added funding to increase by 50 the number of STEM magnet seats at South River High School. The board also passed amendments that added 43 special education positions to the 73.3 contained in Arlotto’s recommendation, including 11 positions to maintain the special education program currently being run by Kennedy Krieger at Southern High School. Kennedy Krieger is ending its participation in the beneficial special needs program, after this school year.

The board’s approved budget request will now be forwarded to Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman. The county executive’s proposal will be considered by the County Council before it adopts a budget that allocates funding within prescribed state categories in June. The board retains the ability to shift funding within operating budget categories before it approves a final school system budget no later than June 30.

The Anne Arundel County board of education Wednesday night unanimously approved a revised official fiscal year 2021 capital budget request of $214.2 million after passing a pair of amendments to the plan it approved in September. The amendments reduced the FY2021 request by $650,000. The board added $800,000 in county funding to the “PS Military Installation Grant” line, providing sufficient local contribution necessary to access more than $90 million in federal grant funding to renovate Meade High School.

The board then adjusted the “Security Related Upgrades” line by $1.45 million after consulting with the county police department that resulted in the identification of a more appropriate form of security glass at school entrances. The board also formally approved its six-year capital improvement plan, which allocates requested funding for projects through FY2026.

The board’s request will now be submitted to Pittman, who will make a recommendation to the County Council on May 1. The County Council will review that plan and adopt a final capital budget for the school system by June 15.