March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 48 F

Arlotto submits $1.16 Billion dollar budget for Anne Arundel County schools

george arlotto
Anne Arundel County Public Schools Superintendent, George Arlotto

Superintendent George Arlotto today recommended to the Board of Education a $1.16 billion operating budget for Fiscal Year 2018 that would provide every school system employee with a compensation increase, add 93 classroom teachers, and allocate $20.5 million to address critical issues in the employee health-care fund.

Dr. Arlotto’s plan includes $15.6 million for compensation enhancements, an amount that would provide full step increases for all eligible employees as well as modest increases for all employees who would otherwise be ineligible for steps. It also includes $3.3 million for 43 additional general education teachers across the system to address a continuing rise in enrollment and help reduce class sizes.

“A budget isn’t a document,” Dr. Arlotto told the Board in presenting his recommendation. “It is an investment in the hopes of our children, and I assure you there is great hope in our children.”

Dr. Arlotto’s proposal also includes $3.3 million for 35.4 positions to help address increasing issues related to the social and emotional wellness of students. Those include 23 teachers and aides for special education students; five assistant principals for elementary schools to allow counselors and reading specialists to concentrate on their areas of expertise instead of administrative functions; three school psychologists and one social worker; and 3.4 school counselors to provide full-time counselors at three additional elementary schools and one early education center.

In his recommendation, Dr. Arlotto also included $20.5 million to help shore up the school system’s health-care fund and fix its structural deficit. The fund has been depleted in recent years as the County Council directed funds from it for other uses within the school system. In the current year, the county and school system worked together to allocate $10 million outside of state Maintenance of Effort provisions to the fund.

Dr. Arlotto’s recommendation also includes $6.8 to open the new Monarch Annapolis Academy Public Contract School in September. The school will be the third operated by the Children’s Guild and will help ease overcrowding issues in the Annapolis cluster.

In his recommendation, Dr. Arlotto also included:

  • $1 million for 10.5 positions to expand the Triple-E program to the seven elementary schools in the Old Mill cluster.
  • $763,000 for 10 English Language Acquisition classroom teachers to address a 14 percent rise in the number of English Language Learners.
  • $125,000 for two additional bilingual facilitators to undertake the critical work of collaborating with families of these students.
  • $152,000 will fund two positions to expand the Central Middle School STEM program to the eighth grade.
  • $134,000 for 1.5 positions to address enrollment growth at existing Triple-E schools.
  • $216,000 for four community ambassadors to serve as additional supports and resources and to provide critical links between schools and the communities they serve.

CAPITAL BUDGET RECOMMENDATION

Dr. Arlotto today also recommended a $238.6 million capital budget to the Board. It would allocate more than $176 million in construction and/or design funding at Manor View, High Point, George Cromwell, Jessup, Arnold, Edgewater, Tyler Heights, and Richard Henry Lee elementary schools, as well as for the new Crofton Area High School.

The proposed capital budget also includes:

  • $7.5 million for prekindergarten and kindergarten additions at Park and Shady Side elementary schools.
  • $1.1 million to renovate the Carrie Weedon Science Center building in Galesville in preparation for opening an early education center there.
  • $7 million for open space enclosures at Brock Bridge and Shady Side elementary schools.
  • $6 million for classroom additions at Marley and Solley elementary schools.

Details about Dr. Arlotto’s budget recommendation, a Budget in Brief, a video of his budget address, and the text of his remarks to the Board can be found here.

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