Board adopts revised Phase 2 redistricting plan SR3 and sends it to public hearing; amendment to keep South River Colony at Central fails

The Anne Arundel County Board of Education on Oct. 15 voted unanimously to adopt Superintendent George Bedell’s revised Phase 2 redistricting recommendation, SR3, and send it to public hearing.

The board approved SR3 after staff presented updated, preliminary enrollment counts for the 2025–26 school year that showed notable shifts in several Phase 2 schools. The administration’s revised recommendation keeps several previously proposed moves intact but removes two specific changes: it leaves Shadywood Circle in Crofton Elementary rather than moving that area to Crofton Meadows, and it retains the Apex Arts Magnet program at Annapolis High School instead of moving it to Severn Run High School.

SR3 replaces the earlier SR2 proposal in part because new unofficial enrollment figures — collected Sept. 30 and reported to the board — showed a substantial rise at Severn Run High and a drop at Annapolis High and other Annapolis-cluster schools. Staff said the updated numbers made moving the Apex program to Severn Run infeasible, because Severn Run’s enrollment rose by about 297 students and both Severn Run and Annapolis High would end up near the same utilization level under the new counts.

Board members spent more than an hour asking staff how the new counts were compiled and whether the counts could change after the state-level data-cleaning process, which the administration said typically completes in mid-November. Superintendent Bedell and staff emphasized the numbers were preliminary and would be refined, but they also said the trends supported a more targeted approach to boundary changes.

During the meeting Board Member Michelle Pulliam moved an amendment to BR3 (the board version of the recommendation) to keep the South River Colony neighborhoods at Central Elementary and to remove Gingerville, Poplar and Willow communities from the other proposed moves. That amendment was seconded and put to a roll-call vote; it failed 1–6. The board previously voted 7–0 to approve SR3 itself.

What happens next: SR3 will be published for public hearing and comment alongside the other Phase 2 plans the board has already circulated. Staff said updated, finalized enrollment and demographic breakdowns are expected after the state-local cross-LEA verification process in mid-November; the administration urged the public to use the public hearing phase to submit feedback.

Board actions and votes at the meeting are recorded below.