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Anne Arundel updates Blueprint rollout: pre-K seats, teacher incentives and school supports expanded
Summary
District staff told the Board of Education that Anne Arundel County Public Schools is expanding prekindergarten seats, accelerating national board teacher incentives and using Blueprint funding for dual enrollment, CTE and mental-health supports while flagging transportation and funding-compliance challenges.
Anne Arundel County Public Schools staff presented a progress report Wednesday on implementation of the states Blueprint for Marylands Future, outlining gains in prekindergarten access, teacher incentives and school-based student supports while noting timing, space and transportation constraints.
Shannon Pugh, the districts director of strategic initiatives and a Blueprint implementation coordinator, opened the presentation and summarized the programs goal: "the goal of blueprint is to eliminate opportunity gaps and ensure all students are, graduate globally competitive and prepare for post secondary education work in life," she said.
The report gave a table of near-term and multi-year requirements and the districts progress. Key details reported to the board: - Prekindergarten: AACPS has transitioned almost all classrooms to full-day pre-K and expects to offer about 2,760 seats for 4-year-olds in the next school year. The district emphasized that seat availability depends on physical classroom space and that the pre-K rollout prioritizes families by income tiers (tier 1 at 300% of the federal poverty level first). Pugh noted a family-of-four tier-1 threshold of about $93,000 and a tier-2 threshold (360%) of roughly $112,000, numbers the district uses to allocate seats. - Early intervention: Blueprint-funded transitional supplemental instruction (TSI) supported 51 early-intervention staff this year to provide intensive phonics-based help (Orton-Gillingham) for K–5 students identified at tier 3 and tier 2 levels; the district reported measurable growth for students who received those supports. - Teacher compensation and career ladder: The district has met state deadlines to increase pay and accelerate a teacher career ladder tied to National Board Certification. Pugh and staff highlighted local research presented by district psychometrician Dr. Mei Wang showing a statistically significant difference in median MCAP student-growth percentiles for students eligible for free and reduced-price meals whose teachers are National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs). - NBCT growth: The district said 125 educators were initial NBCT achievers in December 2024, placing AACPS third among Maryland counties that month and fifth nationally in that December cohort, and noted long-term growth in the total number of NBCTs in the district. - College and career readiness: Blueprint funding is paying AP/IB exam fees, dual-enrollment courses and industry certification costs. The district reported rising participation in AP, dual enrollment and CTE pathways and described the states more rigorous "completed pathway" metric (for example, more demanding AP completion criteria) that will appear on state accountability dashboards. - Career and technical education: AACPS described work to expand pathways such as Project Lead The Way and noted that a study cited in the presentation found an $11 return on every $1 invested in CTE in the cited Oregon study. The district emphasized work to grow "career coaches" and stronger middle‑school exposure to careers. - Community schools and mental-health supports: The presentation listed 48 schools qualifying for community-school designation under the three‑year 55% FRPM (free- and reduced-price meal) threshold for FY26 and noted Blueprint-funded substance‑abuse services expanded to every secondary school.
Board members asked several operational questions. Dr. Matthew Stanski, chief financial officer, and Pugh addressed transportation for pre‑K students: students attending the school that would be their assigned kindergarten school can ride buses, but students placed elsewhere present logistical challenges and the district is exploring options because transporting 4‑year‑olds differs from transporting older children. On dual enrollment, Pugh said district leaders are studying models (for example, where high‑school teachers deliver credit-bearing classes on the high‑school campus) and have visited Frederick Countys model.
Pugh emphasized equity goals: the county is attempting to place NBCTs and lead teachers in higher‑need feeders and to grow NBCT cohorts "in every feeder." She also warned that some Blueprint technicalitiesfor example, requirements to prioritize NBCTs in low‑performing schools and to limit novice teachers in high‑need classroomsrequire deliberate placement strategies.
Why it matters: Blueprint reshapes state and local resource flows and program expectations. The district told trustees it is expanding seats and services but that classroom space, transportation and state reporting rules will determine the pace of change. Trustees and staff flagged areas for follow up, including precise seat counts by cluster, plans to scale intervention roles beyond FY27 funding changes, and continued analysis of whether NBCT placement and career-ladder incentives reach the intended, high-need schools.
For now the board heard data and plans rather than votes; staff said they would return with additional, school‑level implementation details and timelines.
