Summary of 6/23/22 School Board Meeting
Opening/Consent Items
The School Board started by thanking Chief of Staff Brian Stockton for his service to APS and providing him with a very nice farewell. Mr. Stockton was present and gave a speech.
The School Board then unanimously adopted the consent agenda. As part of that consent agenda, revisions to various policies (School Plan Advisory Committee; Superintendent Advisory Committees; School Board Owned Vehicles; Communication about Systemwide Instructional Program; Communication about Student Progress, Program and Grading; Homework) were adopted.
The School Board then announced the following appointments:
- Appointment of Dr. Gerald Mann as Chief Academic Officer, who was present and gave a speech;
- Appointment of Stephen Linkous as Chief of Staff, who was present and gave a speech;
- Appointment of Stacy Morris as Director of Counseling Services at Wakefield High School, who was present and gave a speech;
- Appointment of Kimberly Jackson Davis as Administrator of Langston High School Continuation/ New Directions Alternative Program, who was present and gave a speech;
- Appointment of Gradis White as Director of School Climate and Culture, who was present and gave a speech;
- Appointment of Holly Vesilind as Assistant Principal, Swanson Middle School, who was present and gave a speech;
- Appointment of Wendy Bermúdez as Dual Language Immersion Coordinator, who was present and gave a speech;
- Appointment of Jonathan Turrisi in a strategic planning position, who was present and gave a speech; and
- Various other appointments.
Announcements
The School Board thereafter moved to the following announcements:
- The School Board will have a closed meeting on July 1 at 9:00 am, followed by the school organization meeting and school board meeting at 10:30 am; and
- The School Board is accepting applications for the School Board Advisory Committees for next school year.
Afterwards, Superintendent Durán gave his announcements (slides here):
- Dr. Durán reviewed that contact tracing was discontinued on June 17, and discussed how on June 30th, APS will be considering the following COVID-19 mitigation measures and announcing its decision via School Talk:
o Continuing weekly optional surveillance testing
o Revising student athlete testing requirements
o Reopening our schools and facilities to visitors
o Continuing to recommend masks during high and even moderate transmission (which is CONTRARY to CDC guidance).
- Dr. Durán recognized Ron Deskins, one of four APS students who integrated VA schools in 1959. He passed away in June.
- Dr. Durán then discussed the Year End Report, summarizing various statistics from this school year in the format of the School Board’s priorities:
o #1: Ensure Student Well-Being and Academic Progress
o #2: Advance 2018-24 Strategic Plan goals focusing on innovation and equity
o #3: Recruit, hire, and invest in a high-quality and diverse workforce
o #4: Improve operational efficiency
- Lastly, Dr. Durán provided a congratulations to the Class of 2022.
Public Comment
The public comment portion of the meeting featured 1 speaker:
- 1 speaker from Montessori Public School of Arlington spoke in favor of the School Board adopting the site plan for the Career Center.
Monitoring Item 1: Advisory Council on Teaching and Learning (ACTL) Annual Report
Bethany Sutton presented the ACTL’s annual report, available here. Reid Goldstein is the School Board Member liaison to ACTL and introduced Ms. Sutton.
Ms. Sutton also summarized the various ACTL Subcommittee’s recommendations, which are in the main report. Those various ACTL Subcommittee reports are available here. Most notably, ACTL felt that APS has not communicated a clear plan for addressing learning loss.
Moreover, Mary Kadera subsequently commented that she also does not want APS and the School Board to forget advanced students who are above grade level (even as APS focuses on learning loss and students who are behind). She appreciates how Dr. Durán looks at properly supporting advanced students as an equity issue as well.
Monitoring Item 2: Budget Advisory Council (BAC) Annual Report
Chuck Rush presented the BAC report, available here. Mr. Rush noted that it is generally supportive of the investments in the proposed budget, in particular special education, compensation, and resources to help students recover from the pandemic. However, BAC urges adoption of a transition to “a financial structure that can operate on a forward-looking basis without yearly firefighting to resolve deficits.” In particular, the use of planning factors should reflect how we want to staff classrooms and provide instruction.
BAC’s recommendations also encouraged the Board to make additional investments in students that are still struggling with learning loss, and believes there is more flexibility to do that using reserves. It highlighted suggested additional math and reading tutors and specialists, supplemental educational technologies and subscription programs, expanded summer school, and targeted additional resourcing using the metrics reflected on the student progress dashboard.
Monitoring Item 3: Advisory Council on School Facilities and Capital Programs (FAC) Annual Report
Rosa Cheney presented the FAC report and discussed how FAC will assist APS with a framework and guidelines for long-range renovation plans and, in the near future, swing space options.
Action Item: 1. Resource Adoption (6-12 English Language Arts)
Adopted 5-0 with no changes.
Action Item: 2. Amendment to Sun Tribe Solar’s Comprehensive Agreement
Adopted 5-0 with no changes.
Action Item: 3. FY 2023-32 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)
Adopted 5-0 with no changes. There were some changes to the last presentation: (1) four more schools (Glebe, Oakridge, Jefferson, Washington-Liberty) will receive security updates to their entrance/vestibule, (2) Kenmore’s field conversion is accelerated to 2025, (3) more details were provided on Career Center campus development, and (4) some long-range renovation plans now include placeholder amounts.
APS announced phases to the Career Center project. Phase 1 involves constructing a new Career Center building, parking garage, and field. Phase 2 will entail a “refresh” to the existing Career Center building to make it suitable for use by MPSA. Currently, there is a placeholder of $15 million for this work, which APS emphasized is in 2022 dollars and are based on estimated “approximate, minimum work”; the revised cost estimate associated with this plan will be presented in early 2023. MPSA is anticipated to open in the new building in 2028. Phase 3 involves demolishing the existing MSPA building and replacing it with a new field or open space. Costs for this work will be presented in 2024.
APS also added in some placeholder amounts for its longer-term renovation plans. The total APS plans to spend over the period 2023-32 is now $474 million. As a reminder, APS and the County jointly have access to $320 million in bonding capacity over the next ten years. Mr. Goldstein emphasized that the CIP is a plan and an estimate, and that many things, such as projected revenue, enrollment, estimates, interest rates, and other factors, may change and then the CIP may change too. Ms. Diaz-Torres called on the County Board to join in with the CIP’s investment in students. Dr. Kanninen stated that the CIPs are now consistent across the County and School Boards, and thanked JFAC for its feedback.
See the School Board Meeting Scorecard.
