Board splits on music transportation and instrument funding as FY27 budget moves forward

During a lengthy budget session, the Anne Arundel County Board of Education amended the superintendent’s FY27 operating and capital proposals to add targeted support for music programs, student safety programs and school facility projects — while rejecting a high‑profile proposal to shift athletic transportation dollars to pay for additional marching band competition travel.

CFO Matt Stanski confirmed the board‑approved operating budget total as $1,920,276,277 after the approved amendments. The board approved dozens of line‑item adjustments by roll call: items to reflect the governor’s proposed budget, inflationary increases for self‑insurance and health care, increases to laptop program funding and compensation adjustments such as a 1% COLA for all employees and an increase of temporary support assistant wages to $18 per hour.

Music advocates urged the board to reallocate $176,400 from the athletic student/team travel budget to expand marching band travel (amendment 11). Proponents argued marching bands face high family fees and unequal access to competitions; opponents warned that cutting athletics’ transportation would reduce athletic services and asked how fewer transportation dollars would affect scrimmages, tournaments and playoff logistics. The motion to reallocate the $176,400 failed on a 4–4 vote.

The board did, however, approve several smaller music‑focused amendments. An amendment to add $100,000 to the K–5 and 6–12 music elective base budgets for instrument repair and replacement passed after an amendment to that proposal was approved (final vote recorded in the transcript). Board members supporting the moves described them as modest, fiscally achievable steps to address inequity in access to music instruction; opponents said sustained solutions require county funding and worry that moving money between existing buckets is unsustainable.

Separately, the board approved capital amendments to fund field houses — including $4.0 million for Chesapeake High School and $4.8 million for Arundel High School — and added $5.5 million for a second gym and team room at Southern High School. A $25,000 amendment to renovate the Southern High School greenhouse was also approved after narrowing the original request.

Board members approved a $137,481 amendment to fund middle school participation in a regional Drug & Violence Awareness Expo (transportation, instructional salaries and fixed charges) and unanimously directed staff to review the district’s gate‑receipts model and report back by July 2026 with recommendations on distributing gate revenues to extracurricular programs beyond athletics.

Superintendent Dr. Mark Bedell and CFO Matt Stanski said staff will prepare implementation details and work with schools to prioritize repairs and equitable distribution once the county appropriation is finalized. The board adopted the final FY27 budget as amended by a 7–1 vote.