08-25-2024 Guidebook - Flipbook - Page 26
26
EDUCATION
Anne Arundel County Superintendent of Schools Mark Bedell speaks at Southern High School’s 2024 graduation ceremony at the Live! Casino Hotel in Hanover. PAUL W. GILLESPIE/STAFF
BACK TO SCHOOL
A guide to the Anne Arundel County Public Schools and Board of Education
By Brian Jeffries
The Anne Arundel Board of Education is made up of seven adults and
one student member, who is elected by
students and then appointed by the governor. School board members hold executive, legislative and quasi-judicial power.
The seven adult members each represent a county councilmanic district. The
board recently transitioned to an elected
body and for the first time, all seven seats
will be up for election in November 2024.
Some of the board’s responsibilities
include selecting and appointing the
superintendent, adopting policies for
the school system, adopting both the
operating and capital budgets, reviewing the superintendent’s administrative decisions, and appeals of long-term
student suspensions and expulsions. It
also considers recommendations of the
superintendent to suspend or dismiss a
certified employee.
In June 2022, the system hired Kansas
City Public Schools Superintendent
Mark Bedell as its new superintendent.
His career spans more than 15 years,
with stints in the Houston and Baltimore
County school systems and as an administrator known for restoring the Kansas
City, Missouri district’s state accreditation for the first time in a decade. He is a
former Anne Arundel resident.
In June, Hafsa Hamdaoui was elected
the student member of the board. She
was preceded by 50 student board
members, many of whom have sought
reforms as voting members.
The Anne Arundel Board of Education
meetings are broadcast live on AACPS-TV
and live-streamed on the school system’s
Turn to Schools, Page 28
