Cognizant of a looming state budget shortfall but adamant that Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) can be “the greatest school district in this country, period,” if given the appropriate resources, Superintendent of Schools Mark Bedell proposed a Fiscal Year 2026 operating budget to the Board of Education in December that prioritizes special education, early literacy, multilingual learners and employee compensation.
Bedell’s $1.8 billion recommendation contains more than $16 million for the division of specialized instruction and early intervention services as the school system addresses the diverse needs of a student population that has grown by 5% in each of the last two years. Of the 155 special education positions recommended by Bedell, 91 are classroom teachers and instructional staff and 28 more are critical Individualized Education Program (IEP) facilitators who will support legally mandated IEP process requirements and relieve significant workload from classroom teachers. AACPS has not received additional positions to address the growth of students with special needs in three years.
Bedell’s recommendation also contains 17.3 positions and nearly $1.7 million to add staffing for four classrooms to expand the prekindergarten program for 4-year-olds, $2 million for early intervention teachers to replace expiring Blueprint for Maryland’s Future funding, and $275,500 to begin to convert the Carver Professional Development Center in Gambrills into AACPS’ fourth early education center.
To continue to address the needs of multilingual learners – the school system’s fastest growing population – and their families, Bedell is recommending $2 million for 18 English language development teachers, two bilingual pupil personnel workers, and a shift of six bilingual facilitator positions to 12-month schedules to be better able to serve families year-round. The number of multilingual students in AACPS has risen by 38% since 2020.
Bedell’s plan also includes more than $57 million for employee compensation increases and benefits costs. That is sufficient for a step or step equivalent for all eligible employees, plus a 3% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for all employees. Over and above the step and COLA increases, Bedell’s plan includes nearly $4.2 million in targeted increases specific to each employee bargaining unit.
“This is an amazingly beautiful, diverse school district in so many ways. That diversity is something on which we can – and must – continue to build,” Bedell said in his budget address. “For me, where we can go from here is clear: We can become the greatest school district in this country, period. If we have the resources; if we do the things that our strategic plan calls for; if we stay true to being honest about the data, attacking that data in a very strategic way and moving the needle for all of our students, we will become an absolutely phenomenal school district in this country. That results in a higher quality of life not just for our students and their families, but for every single person in Anne Arundel County.”
To continue to enhance safety for students and staff, Bedell has included more than $3.5 million in operating and capital budget costs to construct more security vestibules at schools, enhance school security camera systems throughout the county, and launch a pilot program to harness state-of-the-art technology and install non-invasive weapons detection systems at two yet-to-be-determined schools.
Also included is nearly $1.6 million to complete the rollout of the middle school athletics program that will begin this spring and $3.2 million to open the New Village Academy Public Charter School next fall.
"By their very nature, budget addresses are filled with numbers and lay out a road map for the future,” Bedell said. “However, behind every single number I have mentioned tonight and the thousands contained in the full budget recommendation book is a child, a precious child whose future we hold in our collective hands. Our children – each and every single one of them – are depending on us to obtain the necessary resources and use them to shape that future.”
Bedell’s full Fiscal Year 2026 operating and capital budget recommendations, as well as a text of his budget address and a Budget in Brief document, can be found at www.aacps.org/fy26budget.
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