Anne Arundel County superintendent Mark Bedell named Maryland Superintendent of the Year for 2027

GLEN BURNIE, Md — Anne Arundel County Public Schools Superintendent Mark Bedell has been named the 2027 Maryland Superintendent of the Year, an honor that now gives him the opportunity to represent the state on a national level.

Bedell began his tenure as superintendent in August 2022. Since then, the school district has experienced significant change.

He credits the success achieved in the first few years of his tenure for the recognition.

"When the data came in at the end of my third year, I remember saying to our staff and our board members I think we are further ahead of schedule than where I thought we would be at the conclusion of three years, the one that we had in the first three years. It was unlike any run that I've been a part of across the board," Bedell said.

Since 2022, the district has seen an increase in student proficiency, an increase in college and career readiness, and a reduction in absenteeism.

"Our students are achieving at higher levels they're growing at it's not only academically but socially and emotionally," Bedell said.

The district has also been able to recruit more teachers, reducing the number of teacher vacancies from 283 to just 16.

But Bedell says there are still areas that need improvement.

"I would say discipline referrals is something that if you look at the chart that we were giving everybody tonight is the one area that is higher than it was when I arrived and I think a lot of that was on the hills of COVID, but those numbers have jumped so much that even with us lowering those numbers over the last couple of years, the net gain is still higher than what it was when I when I started in 2022," Bedell said.

With the award, Bedell now has the opportunity to represent Maryland on a national level, something he says feels like a dream.

"I just think there's a lot more that's gonna happen for educators in this county then me being state superintendent of the year or even potentially national superintendent of the year but I don't take any of it for granite and again I mean it's just amazing that I'm sitting here talking to you about this because this was not a part of what I thought. My journey would be as a professional," Bedell said.

Regardless of any awards, he wants parents and the community to know he will continue working to elevate the district even higher.

"I want our community to know you have a very competitive school district I mean this I've worked in four different school districts and I'm telling everybody I don't know that people really understand how good they have it out here in Anne Arundel County and sometimes I think people take that for granite, but we have a B+ rate school district and my goal is to try to figure out how do we get to an a minus level," Bedell said.

Bedell also says more changes are coming in the future to help advance the district, including elevating special education and expanding access to Advanced Placement courses.

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