Annual Review

City Schools’ primary goal is to make sure that every student has high–quality educational experiences that support their learning and their personal growth where our students will thrive and graduate from our high schools with the skills, knowledge, and understanding to succeed in college, careers, our community and wherever their dreams will take them.  

For over a decade, City Schools has used a “portfolio” strategy to review, discuss, plan, and implement recommendations for physical and programmatic developments that best foster student learning and professional growth and have called this process “Portfolio Review.”

Words can be important indicators of what we value. While numeric data is an important component, consideration of the qualitative and lived experience of our school communities is essential to co-create quality schools for every child. Given we value a holistic approach, we have decided not to call this process “Portfolio Review” any longer and are calling it the “Annual School Review.” We have also continued to expand and shift the review process to be more inclusive and centered in the communities we serve. Please read the Annual Review Report linked below to learn more about this.

The Annual Review results in a set of recommendations to the Board of School Commissioners each fall that can include: 

• Creating new traditional schools
• Relocating schools
• Changing grade configuration at schools
• Renewing contracts or charters for schools run by external operators
• Amending the 21st Century Schools Buildings Program
• Closing schools

To see this year’s recommendations, please review the summary table below and select the Annual Review Report link for details on this year’s process, ongoing work of the district that impacts all of our schools, and reports for COMAR recommendations (or recommendations that are for closure, surplus, or relocation). 

On November 9, the Board of School Commissioners received the Annual Review Recommendations Report detailing the recommendations arising from this year's review.

The Board will hold two opportunities to hear public comment on the recommendations: Tuesday, December 6, 2022, from 6 to 8 p.m. and Thursday, January 12, from 7 to 9 p.m.

Members of the public who wish to submit public comment at the Board COMAR Hearing on December 6, 2022 or the Special Meeting on January 12, 2023 can email Lindsey Anderson, leanderson@bcps.k12.md.us within two hours of each meeting (between 4-6 p.m. on December 6 and 5-7 p.m. on January 12). The time limit for oral testimony at these meeting is 3 minutes. Everyone who signs up in the designated time period may provide public comment. Members of the public will need to provide their name, address, email address, telephone number, school/civic/community affiliation, agenda topic, and the format to be used: commenting live, submitting a video, or an email to be read. If submitting a video, please attach the video to the email. If submitting an email, please limit the email to 650 words. The 3-minute time limit applies to groups as it does to individuals.

The Annual Review process includes reviews of our traditional schools and their facilities, as well as operator renewal, which is a review of contract schools run by outside entities, including charter, transformation, etc. Learn more about operator renewal.

Starting in November, all Board meetings will be hybrid meetings with limited opportunity for in-person attendance. Please check the Board's webpage for call-in information to observe the meetings and how to find out if in-person seating is available.

The opportunity for oral testimony will be closed after the January 12 special session is completed. The Board will also accept written comment or data until 5:00 p.m. on Friday, February 10, 2023. Written comment must include full identification of the sender and should be directed to the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners, 200 E. North Ave., Room 406, Baltimore, Maryland 21202, or sent by email.

A summary of the recommendations appears below. To learn the details about recommendations, please review the full report linked above or each school’s individual report linked in the table below. Please also read the letter from Dr. Santelises sharing the recommendation and other ways for school communities to engage, linked in the table below.

There was an error in the phone number in the original letter sent to families notifying them of an annual review recommendation. The phone number is corrected in the updated letter, is available on the annual review site, was pushed out by schools to impacted stakeholders and was emailed to affected families.

Some key dates for the operator renewal process have changed due to a later than expected release of data from the Maryland Department of Education. Please see www.baltimorecityschools.org/renewal for more information.

· Operator renewal recommendations will be announced at the public Board meeting on February 14

· The operator work session, where operators will have the opportunity to present to the Board, will be held on February 16. The work session was originally scheduled for January 26.

· The Board will vote on operator renewal recommendations at a special Board meeting on February 23. The vote was originally scheduled for the February 14 Board meeting