eNews: February 6, 2023
In This Issue:
1. Recent Events in APS Prompt Questions and Worry
2. 2/2 School Board Recap
6. Happening Soon
Recent Events at APS Prompt Questions and Worry
Due to the concerning and tragic events of the past week, we are releasing a special edition of our e-newsletter. Our regularly scheduled edition will be released later this week.
The past few weeks have been difficult ones for APS:
January 19, 2023: A gun threat with a racial slur written at Escuela Key. Parents and community members assert both that APS took too long to respond, and that the response of removing the principal was inappropriate.
January 31, 2023: A student overdosed at Wakefield and ultimately passed away. Four other students also required medical attention.
February 2, 2023: An alleged trespasser who has been known to carry a gun entered Wakefield, prompting a lockdown and police intervention. The 18 year-old individual was ultimately arrested at home in possession of three guns.
February 2, 2023: The CCPTA chair said at the school board meeting there were six reported incidents of drugs or assault in January, including accusations of rape and a mob assault. Details including the locations of these alleged incidents are unknown, and we have inquired with APS for more information.
Why this Matters:
These incidents have a profound impact on the individuals, family and friends of those involved. APS must take more aggressive action to address drugs and violence in our schools to keep students and staff safe, protect the mental health of everyone in our school buildings and limit disruptions to school. We are also concerned about the lack of transparency by APS: lack of timely reports on what happened, the scale of the issue, how APS’ security or processes seemingly failed to prevent it and APS’ response to the problem. As a first step, to increase awareness and transparency, APS should prepare weekly incident reports like those prepared by the Arlington County Police Department. APS should also work with parents and the community to use that data to develop more proactive plans to address these risks to our students.
Additionally, Taylor families have not seen any communication about making up the lost days of school, January 23-25th, due to a loss of power. Questions remain: Power was lost again on February 3rd; is the problem permanently resolved? How will APS triage any future closures or extenuating circumstances at any of their school buildings?
2/2 School Board Recap
The February 2nd APS School Board meeting featured Dr. Durán's announcements and discussion on school safety and security and a presentation on Post-Graduate preparation with a video featuring Wakefield.
Monitoring item was the Strategic Plan Status Update, and the Information Itemsincluded proposed revisions to School Board Policies G-1.4, Acceptable Use of Social Media, Cooperation with Juvenile Court and K-14.1.10.31 School and Police Relations
Read the full recap here.
See our scorecard for this meeting.
HAPPENING SOON
Monday, February 6, 5-7 PM: Open office hours with Bethany Sutton. Sign up to speak.
Tuesday, February 7, 6:30 PM: Work Session on Career Technical Education. Watch here.
Thursday, February 16, 7 PM: Next School Board Meeting. Sign up to speak.
February 23rd, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM: "Making Healthy Choices" with the Kenmore Community Families in Action, Juntos en Justicia and ASHPA. More information here.
Did you know you can add the APS calendar to your iphone calendar or google calendar? Check it out!
