Summary of 5/12/22 School Board Meeting
Summary of School Board Meeting, May 12, 2022
The Board began the meeting by announcing 10 administrative position appointments, including many assistant principals. Special thanks was given to outgoing Arlington Traditional School principal Holly Hawthorne, who has served at APS for 40 years. The Board announced various upcoming work sessions: a CIP work session that would be held in the board room, a closed meeting that would be held in the board conference room, a second CIP work session that would be held in the board room, and a virtual policy subcommittee meeting. Last week, recognition was given to “honored citizens,” with special recognition given to a 40-year APS volunteer. The application period is now starting for school board advisory committees, there is an Outdoor Lab open house this coming weekend, and it is the start of PTA officer season.
Superintendent Durán announced several items specific to graduation and the closing of the 21-22 school year:
Safety / covid protocols will be updated in coming weeks
All celebrations at DAR Constitution Hall will be live-streamed
SOLs will be taken between May 16 and June 14
Extended Day registration has started for both summer school 2022 and 2022-23 school year
Durán continued with spotlighting the APS Social Studies program. A video delved into its new focus on inquiry-based instruction and applying knowledge to real-world scenarios in teams, rather than through memorization and individual testing. The Social Studies program has been focusing on equity and access to instruction, on kids being able to "see themselves in the curriculum", teaching "all history.” Video was then shown of 8th grade world geography students in teams solving problems regarding population density and urban development. The SkillsUSA team was then mentioned as a “bright spot.” Two Arlington Tech seniors won the first-place gold medal in a TV production live contest and qualified for the national contest.
Before moving on, board member Kadera then asked a question about whether extended day capacity is determined by current enrollment and if there is flexibility in its capacity. Durán answered that yes, there is flexibility. Next year’s enrollment capacity is not based on that of this year, which is why it’s critical for families to register now so APS can properly staff its extended day program.
The public comment period began at minute 34, and started with call-in comments. Each speaker’s comments are summarized as follows.
Urgent need for substitute teachers, request to mobilize central office staff to support, warning that many teachers are burning out due to this shortage
Opposition to last-minute change to start time of ATS, school community not fully engaged with
Request to invest in bus-tracking software, to enable parents to know when to expect buses
Animal program opposed to ACC redevelopment plan because not enough space for large animals, space compromise proposed
Request to approve end-of-year pool parties
Request to address precipitous drop in Black and Hispanic achievement during pandemic that is demonstrated by new APS dashboard
In-person speakers were then asked to share their comments:
Request to reopen Planetarium, offer of funding support by Friends of the Planetarium
Request to increase reading tutoring and get all students at grade level, a “moral obligation,” especially those who are graduating
Opposition to current ACC proposal due to lack of comprehensive plan (especially regarding the future of MPSA) and lack of engagement with surrounding neighborhood
Spotlight on middle school Social Studies program
Request to use New Market Tax Credits for ACC redevelopment
Request to dramatically increase funding and planning to remediate learning losses associated with the pandemic.
Action items were then covered, starting with School Start Times. Renee Harbor presented two additional changes made since the School Bell Study and preliminary recommendations were made. First, Arlington Traditional School is going to shift from its new 9am start time to an earlier 7:50 start time and 2:40 dismissal. Similarly, Barrett Elementary is going to shift later, to a 9am start time and 3:50 dismissal. Discussion surrounding these changes included board members asking about the need for charter buses under certain circumstances and the importance of assessing impact to communities going forward if any further changes are needed.
Reid Goldstein spoke at length on how is hearing from families about “Survey Fatigue,” that there are too many surveys. He added that there are also problems especially when the survey is not well-written and does not speak to all communities. For example, one survey was sent to 350 families and only received 21 responses. Many of the non-responses come from Spanish-speaking schools that have many families who do not use email. Different community outreach mechanisms are needed to increase engagement, because without that we are unable to gather sufficient information. Mr. Goldstein also strongly advocated for working with a professional survey firm rather than continuing with in-house survey writing.
The Motion to accept these final School Start Time changes passed 5-0.
The second action item was Final Budget Adoption. Dr. Durán recapped the budget process while reiterating that it is ‘one step’ but doesn’t meet the full needs of the system and he is hoping that more steps are taken next year to address ongoing academic and social-emotional needs of students. As of now, the General Assembly has not provided updated budget information yet. By June 30 there must be an approved budget. So, an amended adopted budget will be provided once the state’s revenue changes are done. APS isn’t sure yet whether there will be more or less revenue from State of VA so amended budget will be updated accordingly once the GA provides it.
Before voting on the budget, the Board discussed the one caveat that will affect the finalization of the budget, which is the approval of Virginia’s state budget. The State’s budget bills in the Senate and Assembly have a difference of -3.8 million to 1.4 million. Once the State budget is finalized, APS will then bring an amended adopted budget to the School Board for a vote to reflect the state allocation. The School Board will vote on the budget to reflect the shortfall or additional income. If the state funding falls below expectations, the Superintendent says that funding will be made up from reserves. APS must have a balanced budget approved by June 30th.
To introduce the budget vote, Ms. Kadera spoke about retaining teachers and compensating them accordingly. She then mentioned that APS must create a more conducive environment for teaching by reducing class sizes, adding instructional coaching capacity, and bolstering therapy and behavioral intervention. Mr. Goldstein has reservations about the budget because there are several one-time funds for the operating expenses, but said he will vote in favor of the budget.
Ms. Diaz Torres highlighted the addition of a policy advisor position.
The budget passed 5-0.
Two additional information items on the agenda were then discussed.
First, the Arlington Career Center (ACC) project was discussed, followed by the latest CIP plan.
Mr. Jeff Chambers presented an information item for approval of an individual change order to Contract 27FY17 not to exceed $850,000 for the ACC project schematic design, architectural, and engineering fee. Background: On April 28th, the board approved the Arlington Career Center Concept Design and now moving to the design phase with Scantec Architects.
The original contract amount increased by more than 25%. The current contract 27FY17 fixed fee is $1,550,910.36; the expected revised amount after the change order will not exceed $2,400,910.36.
The design and construction process for the ACC occurs in multiple phases where each phase of the process is paid separately. The $1550,910.36 reflects the amount that has been spent on the initial steps.
The remaining phases are design development, construction documents, and construction administration.
A future change order for the remaining design phases is expected at the conclusion of Schematic Design and will require School Board approval.
Mr. Chambers estimates that the schematic design will be completed in September.
Mr. Kadrea clarified that the School Board will need to decide about the ACC base versus an alternative design before entering the design development phase because that will be a more costly phase. Dr. Kanninen asked if inflation had been considered. Mr. Chambers responded that inflation had been considered in the construction cost and will be re-evaluated at the end of the Schematic design development. This informational item will be voted on at the May 26th Board meeting.
The second information included a presentation of the Superintendent’s Proposed FY 2023-32 CIP. The presentation is summarized below, but the full presentation can also be found here:
The total CIP budget is $388,32 million for the next 10 years.
55% goes to existing facilities improvements and 45% for the ACC project.
Background: Like the rest of the nation, APS is coming out of a decade of significant enrollment growth, where APS added 10,000 students, about 40% growth. Prior CIP focused on building capacity for that enrollment growth.
Two major changes from previous CIPs are that Arlington Community High School will get a new High School at Amazon headquarters in 2026, and there will be a land use plan and study for the Pentagon City area for a future school if enrollment increases. A similar approach will also be done on Langston Boulevard if needed.
Current ongoing projects are 1) Barcroft Elementary’s HVAC replacement and 2) Randolph Elementary’s roof replacement. Upcoming projects are 1) Escuela Key Elementary roof replacement, 2) Hoffman-Boston Elementary HVAC replacement, and 3) LED lighting upgrades at various schools. These projects were all approved in the previous CIP.
The Proposed FY 2023-32 CIP focuses on prioritizing an annual and consistent investment to improve existing infrastructure and build a full-time ACC. It focuses on security and access, replacing antiquated equipment, and creating functional kitchens for school lunches. The following projects are included in the upcoming CIP:
20 schools are targeted for renovations of their entrances, kitchens, or both entrances and kitchens to bring them up to standard and to improve security.
The Heights building will improve accessibility for disability access.
All the turf fields at the high schools will be replaced and one grass field will be replaced by turf.
All the lock and key systems need to be replaced. There are currently 16 different lock and key systems throughout all of APS. This is a safety issue as well as a budget issue where one system has an annual $30,000 overage on maintenance.
Six Public Address systems will be replaced because they are end of their usability, and for safety and security reasons.
Also, the Enterprise Resource Planning system (the Human Resources system) in the Central office needs to be updated. Oracle is phasing out the current system.
In regards to these plans, APS is developing a proposed framework and guidelines for evaluating schools and identifying potential funding sources and availability. The first renovation is targeted to begin in the Fall of 2026. In December 2025, the new ACC will be completed, and by April 2027 the parking structure and the field will be completed for the ACC site. The ACC site also includes the removal of the Montessori Public School of Arlington (MPSA) at its current location; APS would engage with the MPSA community to discuss future possibilities. The earliest possible year that MPSA would move is 2026.
Ms. Diaz-Torres and Ms. Kadera expressed surprised at how antiquated some of the systems were. Mr. Goldstein questioned the MPSA removal. The neighborhood advisory council advised that the ACC site house no more than two schools at that site. The proposed CIP does not account for MPSA. May 24th is the first work session, and the 2022 bond referenda amount is $165.20million; the public will vote on it on November 1st.
