Residents urge Anne Arundel board to delay or revise Phase 2 redistricting amid concerns over data, travel and community disruption

The Anne Arundel County Board of Education heard more than three hours of public testimony Wednesday as residents across the county urged officials to delay or substantially revise Phase 2 redistricting proposals.

Speakers repeatedly asked the board to wait for updated enrollment-by-grade figures and the county's 10-year facilities master plan before voting. "Trust in the process erodes when no facts that can support decision making are shared," said Jillian Rosato, a Davidsonville parent, summarizing a frequent complaint from families who said they had not received the data behind surgical boundary changes.

Why it matters: The board is scheduled to vote next month on adoption of a plan that would reassign students across multiple clusters. Parents and students told the board the proposals would split small groups of children from their peer networks year after year, force students to cross busy corridors such as Route 3, increase morning commute and childcare burdens, and could reduce access to services such as specialized instruction and wraparound supports.

Major concerns raised
- Split articulation in Crofton: Multiple Crofton parents and students asked the board to reject proposals that would split a small portion of Nantucket Elementary students between Crofton and Arundel clusters. "Split articulation is not just a boundary switch. It is the disruption of growth and the creation of instability," said Peyton Adamczyk, a Crofton High sophomore. Students and parents cited safety risks crossing Route 3 and the loss of long-standing extracurricular leadership and peer groups.
- Davidsonville and Glen Isle: Several speakers from the Davidsonville area argued their communities were "surgically removed" without contiguous alternatives and asked the board to delay votes until projections and renovation timelines in the facilities plan are available. Carly Johnson asked the board to "reject all 6 proposals affecting Davidsonville Elementary School," saying the 27 Glen Isle students removed from DES would not meaningfully change utilization and that the district's use of State Rated Capacity figures had been inconsistent.
- Annapolis cluster and Eastport: Eastport parents and PTA leaders warned that reassigning even a small number of students would strip volunteer capacity, reduce Spanish-language outreach and undermine a walkable school community. Parents described lost PTA leaders, coaches and a volunteer Spanish liaison as tangible harms.
- Waugh Chapel / Watchapel: Parents asked the board to retain 28 students at Waugh Chapel Elementary, citing IEP continuity and updated data presented in testimony showing 94.3% utilization at Waugh Chapel versus 101.5% at Odenton Elementary.
- Central / Edgewater: Dozens of Central Elementary parents opposed moving 37 South River Colony students to Edgewater, saying the reassignment would not solve crowding elsewhere, would disrupt established routines and would increase childcare needs for working families.

Data and process questions
Multiple speakers and student representatives said the district has produced changing enrollment figures during the summer and fall, and that critical class-by-class projections and the educational facilities master plan will not be finalized until December. "If you can't show your work and you can't provide the evidence for your decisions, then you shouldn't be moving forward with decisions that will have detrimental impacts on actual kids," said Ryan Caminiti, a Crofton High tenth grader.

Board actions and next steps
No formal votes were taken during the public comment period. Board members said they expect to vote on a Phase 2 plan next month; several parents asked the board to adopt board-recommended options that preserve neighborhoods or to vote to move no plan forward.

Community context
Speakers included parents of students at Annapolis High, Crofton High, Nantucket Elementary, Davidsonville Elementary, Waugh Chapel Elementary, Eastport Elementary, Central Elementary and others. Many asked for grandfathering for rising fifth- and eighth-graders, or for postponement until the district provides class-level projections and the facilities master plan.

The public comment period at this meeting produced repeated, coordinated appeals for: more transparent data, retention of feeder patterns that preserve neighborhood ties, consideration of transportation and safety impacts, and explicit legacy or grandfathering provisions for students near graduation. The board will need to weigh those appeals against systemwide capacity goals in advance of its planned vote next month.