Anne Arundel County school board votes in favor of revised redistricting plan

The Anne Arundel County Board of Education voted in favor of the Phase 2 redistricting plan, which some families argue is upending their lives.

Anne Arundel County Public Schools staff say the revised redistricting plan, known as Board Recommendation 3 (BR-3), will affect fewer than 1% of students included in Phase 2 of the redistricting process. 

Parents argue that for the small group of families facing changes, the impact is huge.

"What seems small in data terms is significant for the kids whose community is being reshaped," said Michelle Reed, a Davidsonville Elementary parent.

You can see the entire redistricting plan here.

What's included in the BR-3 redistricting plan?

The Anne Arundel County Board of Education approved the redistricting plan with a 5 to 3 vote on Wednesday.

This is what is changing under the revised BR-3:  

• The rezoning of the Gingerville, Poplar Point, and Wilelenor communities from the South River cluster to the Annapolis cluster for elementary, middle, or high school will be removed, leaving those students in their current school assignments.
• The rezoning for the neighborhoods south of Carrollton Road from the Georgetown East Elementary School catchment area into the Hillsmere Elementary School catchment area will be removed.
• The rezoning will be removed for the area bound by Jackson Street out of the Eastport Elementary School catchment area into the Georgetown East Elementary School catchment area, leaving those students in their current school assignments.
• The plan revises the legacy provision to allow only those students entering 12th grade in the 2026-27 school year the option to remain at the high school to which they are currently assigned. Students entering 11th grade in the 2026-27 school year would not have this option. Students enrolled in magnet programs would continue to be enrolled in their current school-assigned program.
• It will remove the rezoning of 28 students from Waugh Chapel Elementary School to Odenton Elementary School, leaving those students in their current school assignments.
• The plan allows four South River Colony communities to remain assigned to Central Elementary School.
• It will retain the split articulation of Nantucket Elementary School, such that middle and high school students living in a portion of the Nantucket Elementary School attendance area from Crofton Middle School and Crofton High School would move to Arundel Middle School and Arundel High School.
• The plan maintains the Chalk Point and Shady Oaks communities at Deale Elementary School.
• It rezones the addresses of 442, 444, and 448 North Patuxent Road to Odenton Elementary School.
• The plan calls to modify the boundaries for Four Seasons, Piney Orchard, Odenton, and Seven Oaks elementary schools. The northern portion of Piney Orchard Elementary School would stay at Piney Orchard Elementary School, while a portion of Four Seasons Elementary School will be rezoned to Piney Orchard, and the western portion of Odenton Elementary School would move to Seven Oaks Elementary School.

Impact on Davidsonville Elementary

Under the revised BR-3, some children in the Davidsonville Elementary School zone,  particularly children who live in Riva, will be reassigned to Central Elementary School in Edgewater starting in the 2026–27 school year. 

"Even though we are not close to Central Elementary, we are not connected in any way," said Lane, a Davidsonville Elementary father, told the board during public comment.

Nantucket Elementary split remains

The revised plan also keeps the split feeder pattern at Nantucket Elementary School, meaning a portion of students who currently feed into Crofton Middle and Crofton High School would instead move to Arundel Middle and Arundel High.

Students told the board the change would break apart peer groups and disrupt their sense of community.

"We spend our whole lives growing up together in the Crofton schools building friendships, community, and a sense of belonging…and now we're supposed to throw that away because of some numbers on a spreadsheet," said Kelly, a Crofton Middle School student.

"When children lose the friends who make them feel seen and supported, it changes more than their school; it changes their world," added Crofton High School student Matt Walsh.

Several proposed rezoning moves removed

Wednesday's vote comes after the board removed several previously proposed rezoning changes, including moves affecting Gingerville, Poplar Point, and Wilelenor. Those communities would remain at their current schools under the revised plan.

But families in the neighborhoods still slated for reassignment say the district hasn't justified the changes — and that the process is moving too quickly.

"These kids don't have to move — there is room for them — and I think it's the right thing to take the extra time that it takes to get it right," Lane said.

If approved, the new boundaries would take effect in August 2026. Only students entering 12th grade that year would be eligible to stay at their current high schools.