Formal AACPS Redistricting Appeal Filed

One Crofton, an organization formed by local parents, filed a formal administrative appeal with the Maryland State Board of Education challenging the Anne Arundel County Public Schools Board of Education’s Phase 2 redistricting decision.  The appeal focuses on the decision to impose an unprecedented split articulation on students who reside in the area of Crofton that is zoned Nantucket Elementary School. It details extensive factual inaccuracies, baseless assumptions, and procedural deficiencies that, taken together, render the Board’s decision arbitrary, unreasonable, and unsupported by the record.

The appeal seeks reversal of the Board’s adoption of the redistricting plan and remand for a lawful, fact-based process that complies with state standards and protects students from unnecessary harm.

The filing follows months of public testimony, data analysis by community members, and repeated requests for public information that AACPS has not provided, including verified capacity data, enrollment assumptions, traffic and safety analysis, and a clear explanation for why Nantucket Elementary was uniquely selected for split articulation.

“The appeal lays out, in plain terms, what the record already shows,” said Patrick Seidel of Silverman Thompson, counsel for One Crofton. “The Board relied on demonstrably incorrect capacity data, mischaracterized state funding criteria, ignored contradictory evidence presented by the public, and failed to articulate a rational basis for singling out Nantucket Elementary. Under Maryland law, a decision built on those defects cannot stand.”

According to the appeal, AACPS repeatedly asserted that perceived overutilization at Crofton Middle and High Schools prevent or reduce state construction funding for other school projects in the county, a claim that is plainly contradicted by Interagency Commission on School Construction regulations. The appeal also highlights procedural irregularities that undermined public confidence in the process, including inconsistent data presentations, shifting rationales, and a pattern of dismissing or minimizing community-provided information.

The appeal is supported by independent expert analysis from a nationally recognized demographic and school redistricting expert, Shelley Lapkoff, Ph.D. In addition, Scott Schuler, a former AACPS employee who was previously responsible for the system’s projections prior to his retirement in 2023, referred to AACPS’s current enrollment projections for the Crofton cluster as “divergent” and “erratic.” Both concluded that the enrollment projections, capacity assumptions, and implementation logic relied upon by the Board are fundamentally flawed and inconsistent with accepted redistricting practices. Their analyses directly undermine AACPS’s stated rationale for redistricting students from Crofton school to Arundel schools, especially given that AACPS’s own data indicates that Arundel Middle will be more overcapacity than Crofton Middle after the move.

In parallel with the appeal, One Crofton has also filed a complaint with the Maryland Open Meetings Compliance Board (“OMCB”) alleging additional violations of the Open Meetings Act related to the Board’s handling of deliberations. The OMCB previously issued an advisory opinion finding that the AACPS Board violated the Act during its September 17 meeting.  While separate from the appeal, the complaint reinforces concerns that key decisions were shaped outside public view.

“One Crofton did not come into existence to relitigate feelings or prolong controversy,” said Mike Chittenden, President of One Crofton. “We came together because the facts did not support the decision, the process did not withstand scrutiny, and students were harmed as a result. This appeal is about restoring lawful decision-making and forcing a reset grounded in evidence, transparency, and basic fairness.”

“This is not about delay for delay’s sake,” Chittenden added. “It is about correcting a decision that should never have been made on the record that was presented. The relief we are seeking is the only outcome consistent with the facts.”