Summary of 5/26/22 School Board Meeting
At the May 26, 2022 School Board Meeting:
Opening/Consent Items:
It was announced at the beginning of the 5/26/22 meeting that Board Member David Priddy was not at the meeting while Board Member Cristina Diaz-Torres was attending via Microsoft Teams. The Arlington Career Center Air Force JROTC Cadet Core then presented the colors.
Board Member Barbara Kanninen asked for a moment of silence to the victims of the tragic shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. She then reviewed APS’ policy and preparedness and called for the passage of gun control and funding for mental health services.
Recognitions:
Recognitions went to numerous APS employees who have served for 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 years.
Consent Agenda:
The School Board unanimously (4-0) adopted the consent agenda. The agenda included Copy of Personnel Actions and Reclassification Request and Closed Meeting Packet.
Revisions to School Board Policies I-7.2.2 Gifted Services, I-7-2.7 Homebound Instruction, I-7.4.1.32 School Organizations and Special Activities, and I-8.1 Grouping
The Board discussed the following appointments:
Stephanie Maltz was appointed as Director of Labor Relations. She has recently served as a Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining staffer in DC public schools.
Steven Makeu was appointed as Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs. He comes from the Arlington Chamber of Commerce.
Sam Podbelski was appointed as Principal of Arlington Traditional School. He comes from Boston Public Schools where he was the interim principal at the Henderson Inclusion School.
Kathleen Brewster was appointed as the Director of Counseling Services at the Arlington Career Center. She’s coming to us from Alexandria where she was the lead counselor.
Dr. Chip Bonar was appointed Student Behavior Coordinator.
Johanna Boyers was appointed director of counseling services at Yorktown High School. She is coming from Cardinal Middle School.
Steven Brown was appointed assistant principal at Williamsburg Middle School. He has been at the school since 2019.
Vica Irving was appointed Assistant Principal to Washington-Liberty High School.
Michele Maurer was appointed Assistant Principal at Tuckahoe Elementary school. She has been at Fleet Elementary for the past six years.
Tamica Shivers was appointed the Assistant Principal at Swanson Middle School. She has been at W&L for 15 years.
Kathryn White was appointed Director of Counseling Services at Wakefield High School
Announcements:
Meeting Announcements:
May 31 – CIP Work Session #2, 6:30 PM, Board Room
June 2 – Closed Meeting, 5:30 PM, Board Conference Room
June 7 – Closed Meeting, 5:30 PM, Board Conference Room
June 7 – CIP Work Session #3, 6:30 PM, Board Room
June 8 – Virtual Policy Subcommittee Meeting, 8:30 AM
June 8 – Closed Meeting, 5:30 PM, Board Conference Room
June 4: Gun Violence Gathering at Courthouse Plaza
Reid Goldstein - Talked about Science Focus “Kids Giving” initiatives and the Arlington Career Center technical awards ceremony.
Mary Kadera - Celebrated the 7 Wakefield students who won awards at the 2022 Le Grand Concours, a national French competition with 42000 participating students.
Cristina Diaz-Torres - Highlighted how Arlington Community High School scored above the county average in performance based English assessments.
Superintendent Durán - Opened with condolences for Robb Elementary and remarks on gun violence, updated board on community Covid levels, and encouraged all students to continue wearing masks indoors.
— Mary Kadera asked if masks were available for students at schools. Durán indicated they were.
He also highlighted:
End of year dates and announced graduation schedules and the return to DAR for graduation assemblies.
Advertised the Extended Day registration for next year.
Phase 1: Returning - May 24 @8am - June 7 @3pm
Phase 2: All - June 8 @8am - June 22 @3pm
Discussed responses to Social-Emotional Learning survey. 12,856 responses with 65% response rate at 42 schools. The survey provides benchmarks to increase the understanding of individual, classroom, and division-wide needs. Parents will be able to access their child’s results on ParentVUE.
— Mary Kadera asked if the survey will be able to measure our students' responses against other responses and other regions around the country. Durán said yes.
Discussed the Odyssey of Mind contest in Iowa where students from Long Branch, Swanson, Glebe, Thomas Jefferson, and Tuckahoe will all be participating.
Finally, congratulations to Julia Bronsky for her 4th place finish in the international science and engineering fair.
Public Comment
The public comment portion of the meeting featured 6 speakers:
3 Teachers - Discussed the importance of collective bargaining. Asked to delay the vote on the collective bargaining resolution to further discuss needs.
1 Bus driver - Discussed the importance of collective bargaining. Asked to delay the vote on the collective bargaining resolution to further discuss needs.
1 Arlington Education Association Representative - Thanked the board for the recent compensation package. Asked to delay the vote on the collective bargaining resolution to further discuss needs. Asked for clarification on how the board is addressing the needs of the Virtual Learning Program for the next year.
1 Parent - Addressed literary needs for secondary grades. She requested a more aggressive plan to address these needs be developed and more proactive measures be taken.
Monitoring report:
Sarah Cruz and Lori Shriver presented an English Language Arts monitoring report. The slides are available HERE. The discussion featured an extensive overview of the process and actions taken by the English Language Arts program. However, the overview did not cover an examination of the effectiveness of the program or how they performed relative to their own goals, neighboring jurisdictions, or national standards. The presentation gave a thorough overview of what they do, but not what they accomplished.
Action Items:
Adoption of Safety and Security Policy Revision Findings and Recommendations
Matt Smith, Policy Review Team Lead, reviewed 6 policy changes (4 retirements of policy and 2 additions). Proposals had been under consideration since 2019 and have been delayed due to the pandemic. Board voted unanimously (4-0) to approve changes.
Approval of ACC Project Schematic Design Architecture and Engineering Fee
Board voted to approve the increased cost to the design of the Arlington Career Center development discussed in the last board meeting. It increases the approved amount budgeted for design costs by 810K to 2.36 million. The motion passed unanimously (4-0).
Approval of Collective Bargain Resolution
The board voted unanimously (4-0) to approve a collective bargaining resolution to begin the negotiation process with staff. This makes APS only the second district to approve such a measure in Virginia, joining Richmond Public Schools.
Brian Stockton, Chief of Staff, presented some updates to the resolution before the vote.
Changed the percentage of staff approval required to trigger elections from 50% to 30%.
Neutral parties will be used to handle election contract impasses and allegations of unfair labor practices.
Cost of the election will now be split between staff representatives and administration, instead of having the staff representatives pay the cost.
Other changes included: definition of temporary employees, clarification of discipline, adding vision and dental to the bargaining, renegotiation triggers when funds are not received.
The collective bargaining resolution sets the structure for collective bargaining. APS has identified the following bargaining units: (i) licensed personnel (e.g., teachers, librarians, etc.); (ii) support personnel; and (iii) administrative Personnel (e.g., principals, assistant principals, directors of technology, etc.). Some employees will be excluded from the ability to participate, such as the Superintendent, personnel in the Superintendent’s cabinet, and employees with access to a large amount of confidential information.
Stephanie Maltz, the new Director of Labor Relations, will be the individual who will oversee and coordinate the specific details of the collective bargaining process and the day-to-day administration of actions of any collective bargaining agreement. APS’ goal is to have collective bargaining agreements effective by FY2024.
Informational item:
Sarah Putnam discussed the latest resource adoption process. The process was developed for procurement of resources for K-12 mathematics, K-5 English language arts, K-3 and 6-7 social studies and middle school in high school French. The recommendations developed out of this process will be voted on at one of the two June board meetings.
New Business:
None
See our scorecard for this meeting here.
