Summary: 1/6/21 SB Meeting
At the January 6, 2022 School Board meeting, the Board welcomed new member Mary Kadera.
Public comment was dominated by parents and students at the high school and middle school level objecting to the “pause” on sports and athletics. These speakers made the point that Arlington is the only one of 133 VHSL divisions “pausing” athletics, and that within Arlington itself public school students are the only ones unable to participate in their regular activities, as adult and private activities are continuing as normal.
One speaker again urged APS to adopt a “test to stay” protocol.
Dr. Durán provided the following Covid-related updates:
APS closed on Thursday due to staffing problems, not due to weather. APS was already understaffed, with roughly 40% of its staff out, before FCPS and other neighboring divisions announced they were closing. Once that happened, staff shortages in APS went over 50% and the decision was made to close.
The calendar builds in 6 days for elementary built in and 7 for secondary for snow. Previously, the plan was to move to virtual learning after 5 snow days; however, power outages both in Arlington and outside of Arlington (where teachers may live) and other considerations may affect the approach APS takes.
Dr. Durán acknowledged there may need to be an adjustment to the calendar to add instructional time. APS briefly added January 31 as a new instructional day, but then withdrew it and did not commit yet to adding another day.
Dr. Durán continued to emphasize the importance of layered risk mitigation and encouraged opting in to voluntary surveillance testing. APS has also ordered KN95 masks and rapid tests (two tests per box) for every staff member and student, and will advise the community when these items are delivered.
APS is delaying implementation of the new CDC guidance providing for only 5 days of isolation and quarantine, based on advice of Arlington public health officials. According to Dr. Durán, “the amount of germ present in our community, which includes our students and staff, would increase the likelihood of infection in schools as much as gatherings outside of schools, if we followed [the new CDC] guidance at this time.” Dr. Durán stated that APS will wait until the Omicron spike in our region passes and then move forward.
All APS staff will be required to get boosters by January 28, 2022.
Going forward, students in quarantine will be able to receive some “live” instruction beginning on Day 3.
School Board members Priddy and Kadera asked about the “pause” in sports and activities. Mr. Pope explained that ResourcePath data shows a symptom onset window of, on average, between 2 and 4.6 days from date of exposure and therefore APS decided to add a 10-day quarantine to that period to arrive at the 14-day “pause.” Mr. Pope also indicated that APS will still exempt students from surveillance testing and presumably quarantine for 90 days after a positive test, as before. Ms. Kadera noted that the “pause” is inconsistent with Parks & Rec activities throughout the county and that, if the “pause” is extended, APS should work with the County to ensure a consistent approach.
Ms. Kadera also asked about the effect on staffing of continuing to quarantine and isolate individuals for 10 days, despite the CDC’s recommendation of 5 days. Dr. Durán responded that he is monitoring the situation and that APS is providing enhanced pay for substitutes.
APS received a $3.66 million grant for emergency connectivity funding.
The middle school and high school option application process is now underway. The portal is open to accept applications until January 21 at 4PM. The lottery will be held on January 31 and notifications sent on February 7.
Brian Stockton and Matt Smith presented on the policy revisions plan, which includes efforts to review and revise (as needed) APS’ 194 policies and 255 policy implementation procedures (PIPs). Due to the pandemic, APS is behind on the usual cycle but now working to catch up. As part of the effort to catch up, APS will be proposing a new administrative FTE position, Director of Policy. This will be a budget request and was described as important to allow staff to focus on content and not process, improve quality and consistency, and reduce burden on staff.
The School Board voted 5-0 to approve the MS & HS Program of Studies for SY 22-23. Prior to the vote, Ms. Kadera asked about the decision to remove intensified world language classes at the middle school level, and the response clarified that the courses are not currently being included because the groundwork has not been provided to current students, and so this shift should not be interpreted as APS pulling back from offering advanced course work for MS students. Dr. Durán noted that they have started a “year-long process to be able to have those intensified core courses in middle school in the following school year, not this upcoming school year. That will come forward when we are voting on next year’s program of study.”
Ms. Loft Bridget Loft presented policy updates on the following:
early childhood programs: the revisions reflect changed language from “Pre school” to “early childhood programs”, and updated language;
student acceleration opportunities: added a PIP that articulates the program offerings;
program differentiation: proposing retirement of this policy due to significant redundancy in references to differentiation across the other policies; and
English learner service: updated info regarding services; this is currently a standalone policy now and a PIP was added to focus on articulating program offerings.
Dr. Kanninen requested more data on early childhood programs to allow the School Board to evaluate these programs. Ms. Kadera asked for English Learner policy to be more explicit about triggers for student consideration for the English Learner Intervention Program.
These items will be voted on at the January 20 School Board meeting.
Please see our Scorecard for this meeting here.
