Citizen Advisory Committee Announces Arundel and South River Picks

FROM Anne Arundel County Public Schools

The Board of Education today appointed 26 county residents to a newly structured Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) that will provide input and advise the Board on key issues surrounding education throughout the county. The new appointees will join three representatives of countywide parent groups in forming the panel’s 29-member executive committee.

On July 13, the Board adopted Policy KBA and Superintendent Kevin Maxwell issued Administrative Regulation KBA-RA, which calls for the creation of the committee in order to increase citizen involvement and guarantee diverse representation of parents and citizens across the county. Two representatives from each of the 12 high school clusters, one representing elementary schools and one representing secondary schools, were appointed along with two at-large representatives.

“We are very pleased with the outpouring of interest in these positions,” Board President Patricia Nalley said. “We had more than 70 applicants, which is a clear indication of how much parents and others across our county want to be involved in the education of our children. The Board is eager to begin working with this new group as we collectively seek to move our school system forward.”

Applications were screened by a four-member committee, which forwarded its recommendations to the Board. Members of the screening committee were: Brad Myers, representing the countywide CAC; TeresaTudor, Senior Manager for School and Family Partnerships for Anne Arundel County Public Schools; Walter Reap, Germantown Elementary School principal; and Deborah Ritchie, Board member. Myers, who received an at-large appointment, did not participate in the discussion of his application.

The Executive Committee will hold its first meeting at 9 a.m. on October 13 in the Board Room of the Parham Building, located at 2644 Riva Road in Annapolis. The meeting and membership in the CAC are open to anyone, regardless of whether they have children in AACPS or not.

Members of the CAC Executive Committee are:

● Arundel Cluster: Kevin McCoy (elementary); and Tracy Mathews (secondary)
● South River Cluster: Jenny Beard (elementary); and Synthia Shilling (secondary)

● Annapolis Cluster: John A. Sabatini (elementary); and Mary Kathleen Peddigree (secondary)
 ● Broadneck Cluster: Lisa Nolan (elementary); and Tania Howard (secondary)
● Chesapeake Cluster: Betty Colangelo (elementary); and LaToya Staten (secondary)
● Glen Burnie Cluster: Barbara Hawkins (elementary); and Susan Stokes (secondary)
● Meade Cluster: Kimberly McKinley (elementary); and Ping Huang (secondary)
● North County Cluster: Lisa Crittenden (elementary); and Selene Hurley (secondary)
● Northeast Cluster: Chris Ross (elementary); and Phil Kijak (secondary)
● Old Mill Cluster: Randi Bulla (elementary); and Susan Downey (secondary)
● Severna Park Cluster: Thurman Reynolds (elementary); and Michiko Martin (secondary)
● Southern Cluster: Lindy Marks (elementary); and Carol Dillon Kissal (secondary)
● At-Large: Brad Myers; and Abraham George
● Anne Arundel County Council of PTAs: Dawn Jung
● Special Education Citizen Advisory Committee: Frank Locraft
● Parent Involvement Advisory Council: Ambareen Jafri