Summary: 10/28/21 SB Meeting

At last night’s school board meeting, we heard the following:

Board appointed Jason Ottley as chief of DEI. Noted that APS is one of few districts to have a vacation day for Diwali.

Dr. Durán summarized work being done on shifting to structured literacy, primarily in K-2. Teachers are now being provided professional development to support shift, and APS implementing Dibels. Played promotional video of teachers discussing what they were doing. Although Dr. Durán referenced this as an effort to ensure acceleration, the change to structured literacy was identified and approved pre-pandemic; ELA committee has long advocated for it, as have others.

Focus of public comments included:

APE advocated for a concrete plan on learning loss recovery for the 6900+ students who failed the SOLs, noting dramatic declines in test scores, particularly at schools in South Arlington and schools with substantial percentage of FRL students.

APE and Dr. Smelkinson (infectious disease expert at NIH) advocated for test to stay as a means of reducing quarantine time for kids; also addressing mental health issues caused by pandemic and need for schools to provide services. (See our Advocacy in Action here.)

Many parents addressed boundary change for students zoned for Ashlawn/ Kenmore/Yorktown. Current boundaries separate small group from friends.

Several parents addressed inequities of boundary change for Drew.

AEA advocating for a day off for booster shots, and for COLA increase.

Bus drivers continue to talk about pay and work conditions

Lengthy presentation on Operational efficiencies, which was also discussed during the School Board retreat. Key issues addressed include:

HVAC Systems: Discussed HVAC systems replaced, those projects that have been deferred, and the schedule for HVAC replacements in future.

Bus routes: Discussed inefficiencies in current routes; it was stated that this was in part due to 8 different bell schedules; APS proposing to revisit existing bell schedule to make bus routes more efficient; APS set forth a proposed schedule to consider bell schedules this year, with Board action expected in May 2022. Dr. Kanninen asked that people take note of the discussion of potential bell schedule changes.

Also noted that use of hub stops for option programs has allowed APS to eliminate 7 bus routes; APS notes that they are asking parents of students in option programs to work with APS to get students to those bus stops.

Information Services: Noted that APS is replacing smart boards; they have increased bandwidth for network connectivity; and considering upgrading the ERP system to Oracle Fusion Cloud system, which will cost $12 million over next three years.

Board approved CIP direction (which includes direction to proceed with planning for career center site. Board voted to accept the donation for the Amazon Think Big space at Wakefield; Board discussed increase in cost at the Education Center project.

See our scorecard for this meeting here.