Wednesday, December 19, 2012
The recommended operating budget is 3 percent more than last year's recommendation and includes $16 million for employee pay raises.
At more than $1 billion, Superintendent Kevin Maxwell's proposed operating budget is the largest in the history of Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) and includes money for employee pay raises. Maxwell is seeking a 3 percent increase in the operating budget for fiscal year 2014, bringing the overall total to more than $1 billion. In addition to the operating budget, Maxwell’s recommended capital budget outlines $239 million to cover school construction and development needs. This is the first time the school system’s recommended operating budget has ever eclipsed the $1 billion mark. The high number is directly related to growing enrollment numbers throughout the county and the needs associated with that increase, said AACPS Chief …
Students may notice increased security at schools on Friday, the superintendent said.
UPDATE (4:30 p.m.)—Police said at a press conference on Wednesday that rumors spreading on social media of planned school shootings on Friday have all been investigated and found to be not credible. Lt. J.D. Batten, who is charge of school security for Anne Arundel County, said some shooting rumors have come from students saying they heard it from others. The press conference was held Wednesday morning at the central office of Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) to address the rumors that are circulating at multiple schools. "Thus far, we have found no truth to any of it," Batten said. He said a student at an Anne Arundel County school texted a friend: "Don't go to school on Friday because I heard there was going to be a shooting." …
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Report cards will still be go out on Nov. 16, as previously scheduled.
In the wake of the post-tropical storm known as Sandy, Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) announced the first quarter marking period will be extended to Nov. 7, two class days later than the previously scheduled Nov. 2 deadline. Because Sandy's effects cancelled classes for two days, delayed openings on Wednesday and left 17 schools without electricity, teachers will have an additional three days to complete testing and assessments to end the marking period. "Obviously our decision to close schools on Monday and Tuesday has impacted the plans of many teachers heading into the end of the first marking period, which had been scheduled for Friday," said Superintendent Kevin Maxwell in a letter sent home to parents. "In order to …
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
School system custodians, cafeteria workers, administrators and secretaries are all set to receive the same 1.25 percent salary increase as AACPS teachers.
The Anne Arundel County Board of Education approved a 1.25 percent mid-year pay increase for all non-teaching staff members Wednesday morning. The board’s decision to increase salaries for all Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) workers comes three weeks after they approved similar salary increases for teachers on Sept. 19. School staff members are now set to receive a pay bump in the middle of the current work year, which varies depending on the position held. For the current school year, employees will only technically receive a 0.62 percent increase, but then receive the full 1.25 percent for the next year. The agreement between the school system and employee bargaining units for support staff, secretaries and administrators …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
The schools superintendent rails against the county executive in a speech at the second budget hearing.
Hundreds of parents and teachers raised their voices in support of a fully funded school system at the Anne Arundel County budget hearing on Monday night. An estimated 800 people filled the auditorium at Old Mill High School with applause after dozens of parents testified before the County Council during the second hearing on the budget for fiscal year 2013. The County Council holds the purse strings for the school system, which takes up $572 million of the county's proposed $1.2 billion budget. Most who testified on Monday implored council members to fully fund the school budget, but had some additional projects in mind for their local schools. Some of these projects included a replacement for Edgewater Elementary, construction …
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
County Executive John R. Leopold said he and the County Council will now have to find a way to fund an additional $12 million for the school system.
UPDATE (6:50 p.m.)—The Maryland State Board of Education weighed in on Superintendent Kevin Maxwell's claim that Anne Arundel County government violated state law in underfunding students with last year's budget. The Maintenance of Effort is the minimum sum of money per student allotted by the county in order to keep school funding stable, and was the primary point of contention by Maxwell after County Executive John R. Leopold released his budget recommendations for fiscal year 2013 last week. Maxwell claimed that the executive “broke the law” by using debt service to calculate the MOE numbers for fiscal year 2012 and then used them as a launch point for next year’s budget. In doing so, Maxwell said Leopold shorted the school system $12 …
Amy Leahy
11:00 am on Monday, January 14, 2013
Seriously? County employees took pay cuts. No wonder there's constant bickering between the county government and the BOE. more ›