The Anne Arundel County Board of Education has chosen Dr. Mark Bedell to lead the county’s public schools. Dr. Bedell — currently leading Kansas City Public Schools — has ties to the county.
The Anne Arundel County Board of Education is likely to make a formal appointment announcement at a special meeting this week. The Board will meet at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, June 17, 2022, to formally vote on Dr. Bedell’s appointment. The meeting will be held in person and will be broadcast live on AACPS’ YouTube channel and on AACPS-TV, which can be found on Channel 96 on Comcast and Broadstripe, and Channel 36 on Verizon.
Should the Board finalize his appointment and approve of a contract, Dr. Bedell’s four-year term will begin on July 1, 2022. In the meantime, “as Dr. Bedell transitions to AACPS and relocates to Anne Arundel County with his family, an acting superintendent will be designated to serve from July 1, 2022, until August 8, 2022.”
“Our Board is thrilled to welcome Dr. Bedell to Anne Arundel County as our new Superintendent of Schools,” Board President Joanna Tobin said. “Dr. Bedell brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and innovative practices to this position, along with an impressive record of student success and achievement. We look forward to working with him to ensure that all our students receive a world class education. As we do so, our entire Board is grateful to Dr. Arlotto for his long and distinguished service to AACPS and we wish him success in the future.”
Prior, Dr. Bedell has been the superintendent of Kansas City Public Schools since 2016 and has earned high acclaim for his work in restoring the district’s full accreditation, closing achievement gaps, and raising the school system’s graduation rate. He has also served as a school improvement officer for the Houston Independent School District and as the assistant superintendent for high schools for Baltimore County Public Schools.
Notably, Dr. Bedells is a former Anne Arundel County resident, so he has direct ties to the county.
