Superintendent Bedell presented his recommendations for Phase 2 of Anne Arundel County Public Schools' redistricting on July 23, releasing two draft plans that staff said were informed by consultant scenarios, system data and thousands of public comments. The board heard the presentation from Chief Operating Officer Bill Heizer and Executive Director of Facilities Kyle Ruff, and was told the draft recommendations will be posted for public comment starting July 24.

The superintendent said the district must redistrict either because it is growing or because enrollment is declining; in Anne Arundel’s case, he said, the district is growing and needs to balance capacity across new and existing facilities. “One way or another, we have to redistrict, and we have to balance this school system,” Superintendent Bedell said during his remarks.

The two recommendations, labeled R1 and R2 in the presentation, draw from three consultant scenarios produced by WXY and aim to reduce the number of schools that are overcrowded while minimizing disruption where possible. R1, staff said, would rezone roughly 2% of students in the Phase 2 study area and increase overall distance traveled by about 1%; R2 is less disruptive and would reassign fewer students and produce smaller changes to travel distance. Both recommendations propose the same elementary school boundary changes in several areas and differ in some middle and high school articulations and magnet program placements.

Key details presented by staff include:
- Study area and scope: Phase 2 covers the Annapolis, Arundel, Broadneck, Crofton, Severna Park, South River and Southern clusters; 53 of the district’s 126 schools are in the study area. Staff reported 43,339 students in the study area out of 85,029 systemwide for 2024–25.
- Public engagement: staff said the web tool launched in February drew 46,000 unique users, 91,000 page views, roughly 4,400 survey responses and about 8,463 map comments; three public meetings were held at Southern High, Annapolis Middle and the Central Office.
- Transportation: Transportation staff estimated both recommendations increase walkers by roughly 20 students and new bus riders by approximately 100 compared with current boundaries. Scenario modeling earlier in the process suggested the full set of scenarios would require about nine additional bus units; staff said R2’s Annapolis cluster change would require an estimated three additional units and about 250 additional bus riders under that option.
- Crofton High School SRC: Crofton High’s state-rated capacity (SRC) timeline was reviewed at length. Staff said a recent submission to the Interagency Committee on School Construction (IAC) is expected to add about 54 seats—bringing Crofton’s SRC from 1,722 to approximately 1,776—reducing the school’s utilization from the current figure to an optimal range under the recommended maps.

Staff walked the board through the geographic impacts in several areas: in the Crofton/Arundel area the proposals adjust attendances for 2 Rivers, Piney Orchard, Nantucket and nearby elementary schools; in the Odenton/Manor View/7 Oaks corridor boundary changes respond to new residential development; in the Davidsonville/Central area small neighborhood moves were proposed to keep most of Davidsonville’s boundaries intact. At the secondary level, R1 introduces two feeder-pattern changes (including a split articulation around parts of the Nantucket attendance area) and reassigns a portion of Mills Parole Elementary students to South River High School; R2 keeps fewer feeder disruptions and would relocate the Apex Arts magnet program from Annapolis High School to a site to be determined by the superintendent.

No board vote occurred at the meeting. Staff said the superintendent’s recommendations would be posted on July 24 with an online comment period running through September 5. The board will hold a redistricting workshop on August 18, select which proposal(s) to take forward on September 17, hold public briefings and hearings in September and October, and vote to adopt a Phase 2 plan on November 19. Implementation of any adopted plan would begin in August of the implementation year.

The presentation and staff answers emphasized tradeoffs: balancing utilization, preserving feeder patterns where possible, minimizing travel distance, accounting for new development, and honoring magnet and out-of-area enrollments. The superintendent stressed staff tried to minimize disruption but warned some moves are unavoidable in order to balance the system. The board asked clarifying questions about the interactive online maps that will be posted and about the SRC/IAC timeline for Crofton. Heizer described the SRC/IAC process as one that requires floor plans and room-usage documentation and said IAC reviews typically take six to 12 months.

Next steps: the superintendent’s recommendations will be posted July 24 for public comment; the board’s workshop is August 18; public briefings and hearings are scheduled in the fall; the board will vote November 19. The district’s Phase 2 redistricting materials, maps and comment tool were scheduled to be available at aacps.org/phase2redistricting.

Sources: Presentation materials and staff remarks at the July 23 Anne Arundel County Board of Education meeting; comments and questions from board members during the July 23 meeting.