80,000+ students definitely isn't a modest sized school district.
Maryland districts are county based, so it may not seem huge compared to MoCo, but lots of states have districts that are town based.
The district where I grew up (suburban Philadelphia) had one high school, two middle schools, and a handful of elementary schools.

AACPS has 128 schools.

$300,000 salary for our modest sized county seems crazy to me!! Am I just naive?? So far it seems he’s made smart moves though- like the quick action on football game attendance policy which I think has helped us avoid incidents like Gaithersburg.

Now we just need to vote a majority of the board off during the next election.

- disgruntled AACPS parent

I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised that the normally non-functioning Board managed to complete this superintendent selection process before the school year! And everything I've read about Dr. Bedell is fantastic. Fingers crossed he brings some new enthusiasm and energy to the district!