Summary of December 12, 2024 School Board Meeting
MEETING OPENING:
Call to Order - 7 PM by Ms. Kadera. Winter choral performance by the Williamsburg Middle School Chorus. Special recognition for United Way for 2024 APS United Way Campaign plus recognition for outgoing APS School Board member Ms. Diaz-Torres and Mr. Priddy.
Ms. Zecher Sutton, Ms. Turner, Ms. Kadera and Dr. Durán all gave tributes to Ms.Diaz-Torres and Mr. Priddy.
Former Board Members Ms. O’Grady, Dr. Kanninen, and Mr. Goldstein offered tributes as well.
Ms. Diaz-Torres and Mr. Priddy gave outgoing comments.
CONSENT ITEMS: Motion to approve passes 5-0.
Minutes
Personnel Actions
Revisions to School Board Policy M-12 Technology to update the language.
Adoption of Revised Budget Calendar for FY2026
There is a new approach that includes Dr. Durán and the School Board bringing forward a combined proposed budget on March 13, 2025.
This change leaves room for community engagement prior to formal approval in May 2025.
APS has discussions with the County Board is about shared economic outlook and will include a winter joint session.
Collective bargaining discussions will affect budget discussions.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Board Announcements
Dates for upcoming meetings were announced.
Reminder to community: last call if interested in joining SB Advisory Committees.
Arlington Career Center group received an award from the 2024 Virginia School Boards Convention receive an award for a student video on random acts of kindness.
At the same 2024 Virginia School Boards Convention, APS received a Risk Management award.
Superintendent's Announcements and Updates
As part of Every Student Counts Dr. Durán recognized the Bilingual Family Specialists and shared a video about them.
Dr. Durán provided an update on the Impact Aid Grant and urged all families to fill out a form to help secure federal funds for military families.
Human Resources Employee Survey is open until January 10, 2025. This survey is led by the internal auditor and it will evaluate internal controls and standard operating procedures.
Shout out for Sound of the Season which includes a number of APS concerts and arts events.
Winter Break – all schools and offices closed December 23, 2024-January 3, 2025.
Questions:
How are Bilingual Family Specialists allocated by school? APS looks at what languages are spoken at home and allocates by school that way.
PUBLIC COMMENT ON AGENDA AND NON-AGENDA ITEMS:
Speakers:
Student: appropriateness of staff member being allow to wear a keffiyeh during school hours since it is often used as a political symbol.
Parent, community member, grad: Majorie Hughes Fund for Children which has a simple need of providing funds for uninsured or underinsured students. They are looking for donations.
Parent: Spoke on how intensified courses were historically segregated and indicates same is true today.
Parent: social studies advisory chair thanked Dr. Durán for commitment to DEI.
APS teacher: brought cookies and spoke on budget, collective bargaining and said APS needs to look beyond class size and teacher pay as part of budget discussion. Neighboring Fairfax County is working towards a 7% raise next year. Kaiser is still an issue.
Parent & teacher: asks for an elimination of one-to-one device policy, immediately for pre-k to grade 5. There is not the research to support this policy. APS needs to provide parents a way to opt out. They have the legal right to say no.
Teacher: Cell phone policy. He sent our a survey to teachers and received 47 responses. 94% favored a district wide away-for-the-day policy. He cited improved student behavior, focus and classroom engagement. There are fewer distractions and students are more attentive. Teachers are relieved they do not need to police cell phones.
Community member: Offered her skills as a resource an ally in career space for cosmetology.
Staff: Spoke in support of reinstating ITC position at W&L High School.
MONITORING ITEMS:
Family and Community Engagement (FACE): presented by Assistant Superintendent Catherine Ashby. She was joined by a number of staff members including Carlos Ramirez, principal of Randolph Elementary and Nohra Rodriguez, Bilingual Family Specialist, Swanson Middle School. Ms. Zecher Sutton is the board liaison.
2024-2030 Strategic Plan Performance Objective: By 2030, equitable family engagement will improve as measure by:
% of families who respond to APS countywide surveys
Response demographics mirror APS student demographics
90% of parents responding favorably to family engagement
Progress Review:
Since 2018 favorability of Your Voice Matters (YVM) increase 36% for families and 25 for staff.
For families YVM has basically been flat at 82% since 2020. For staff it is up 15% to 75%.
ParentSquare is reaching 98% of parents with teacher usage up.
Many ways to engage with non-native English speakers.
Focus on engagement and outreach to diverse populations and non-native speakers.
Questions
Ms. Zecher Sutton: There is a more intentional approach for educators to build relationship with families. What is the content of the training?
Staff: The main focus on the why of the framework. This happens at the start of the year.
Ms. Turner: What does “reaching 98% of parents” mean?
Ms. Ashby: This counts opening emails or viewing on the website or app.
Ms. Kadera: What would help them do their work better?
Staff: Training to become interpreters would be helpful. Also, have board members some talk to them.
Ms. Kadera: At Randoph, how do they organize so it is a shared responsibility?
Mr. Ramirez: If I see someone they become part of the project. We have a culture of care. If they see a need, they go and help.
ACTION ITEMS
Middle & High School Program of Studies: This was presented at the November 14, 2024 board meeting. There are no changes. Sarah Putnam, Executive Director, Curriculum & Instruction, and Dr. Gerald Mann, Chief Academic Officer are there for questions.
Ms. Turner: Part of the program includes intensified courses but there are a couple that are still not included. One of those is World Geography in 8th grade. When will it be added?
Dr. Mann: We want to do this right. Right now, the state has not adopted some of the standards for World Geo. We want to take our time and do it well. We are getting the right groups together to do this and it will be in our next program of studies.
Ms. Turner: Do you have a timeline of when it will happen?
Dr. Mann: I don’t.
Ms. Putnam: Sometime between now and March we should get the updated standards and once we have them it will take spring, through the year to get that ready.
Mr. Priddy: I thought that we did not have World Geo as an option since they can get high school credit for it?
Dr. Mann: Yes, and we clarified that. We do want to provide it but we need to get standards from the state.
Mr. Priddy: Not many school systems offer World Geo in 8th grade?
Dr. Mann: Only a few. Most people offer civics and economics in 8th grade.
Ms.Kadera: I have a follow-up question on intensified. I have had questions about offering Disciplinary Literacy in 6th grade. What will that look like next year in 6th grade.
Dr. Mann: We have seen clustering skyrocket in Disciplinary Literacy. We would like to partner with principals to see what this looks like in 6th grade. This clustering is now all laid out in our Strategic Plan. We need to look at this one class to make sure it does happen.
Ms. Kadera: Not a question but a comment. My first year on the board we voted to offer intensified courses. Last year we voted to expand that. There are areas where I would like us to expand. It does not look like we are reaching demographically represented students. Hispanics and students with disabilities the numbers appear lower. Do we need outreach or supports? Let’s keep having conversations around that. Secondly, teaming and intensified may be mutually-exclusive. I will send a follow up email on this but what would it take to change this?
Dr. Mann said at the end of questions that there were 2 clarifications. The first is that under Mathmatics, Differential Equations is a dual enrollment course at ACC. The second is that they put back in Music Appreciation as a dual enrollment course at ACC.
Approved by the Board 5-0
New School Board Policy J-30 Student Use of Cell Phones and Personal Electronic Devices. This was originally presented at the November 14, 2024 meeting. There have been changes made. Steve Marku, Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs shared a presentation with the changes. The PIP was also provided. Dr Durán is committed to do what he can to make sure APS provides spaces of learning that are free of electronic devices as much as possible. The policy is bell-to-bell. Not everybody will be happy with this policy but we have to do what we can to help students learn and help support our teachers.
Mr. Marku: Changes made over the last weeks are
High school principals can designate a location and non-instruction time during the school day in which phones or devices can be used briefly by students.
Bell-to-bell day includes time in school building before the opening bell.
These will allow students to check messages but also ensure the phones are not a distraction.
Dr. Durán: Mrs. Graves will work with all the high schools to make sure it is known the time and location for each high school. It will be posted so parents will know. Working with Mrs. Grave will also allow not too much discrepancy from high school to high school.
Clarifications asked by board members:
Policy does not proscribe the Yondr pouch as the solution. The Phone has to be away in a pouch or locker. Cell phones will not be allowed during the day.
By January 1 it will be in place when and where students can access phones briefly during non-instructional time.
Ms. Turner: In support of Dr. Durán’s proposal. I have been paying attention to my 3 constituencies – students, parents and teachers. Based the data that has come in, student data is not different between pouch pilot schools and non-pouch schools, parent data didn’t see any difference. In fact, one survey showed no difference between this year and last year. But then there are the teachers. One petition from Wakefield that has signatures. There are 15 signatures per page and it is 13 pages long. The teachers are in favor of a complete away-for-the day. The driver is positive impact on student engagement. The teachers are the adults in the building seeing the impact on our students. They are the most meaningful constituencies along with the principals. I read every email that came in. I understand the need for flexibility to work with special situations (IEP, health issues, etc. ) and it may need to be tweaked as we go along but that’s the mark of a good policy. That we adjust if certain areas are not working well. I support Dr. Durán’s proposal.
Ms. Diaz-Torres: She likes the compromise of having a designated time and space to use a cell phone. There is no need to call out the “exceptions”. It reduces the burden on the student. It mimics the real world. She will be voting on the side of the staff.
Mr. Priddy: The first year will be the hardest year of the policy. This is a community issues. We need the community to help us reduce the time on the cell phone overall. I will be voting for this proposal.
Ms. Zecher Sutton: Educators have made it clear cell phones hurt their ability to educate the students. APS needs a universal approach even though not all students are guilty of being on devices at the wrong time. This is a culture change and warrants a stronger stance at the outset. Phones for students who need phones for mental and physical health. The access time will hopefully allow this to help them. Educators who have developed their pedagogue around using personal electronic devices should, hopefully, be able to look to APS for resources. There is concern that parents and students will not be able to reach each other in an emergency. APS is asking us to trust them that the proper emergency protocols are in place. I am supporting the proposal.
Ms. Kadera: This issue has generated more feedback than any other issue. I have been very torn. Schools alone cannot solve the public health issues brought on by cell phones and social media. This has not been an easy decision for her. There are many issues. I have look to Wakefield where more than 90 staff members signed a petition attesting the power of the no cell phones bell-to-bell. The teachers have gained back instructional time and behavior is better. Students are getting better grades and learning more. Staff morale has improved. Even though students are not happy about the policy, students feel safer. Wakefield staff has said the policy is “transformative”. If our job is to create the conditions for optimal teaching and learning, then this policy feels necessary and appropriate. This may be the single most important change we can make to improve school culture, school safety and increase student achievement. I will be happy to support this.
Policy approved by the Board 5-0.
INFORMATION ITEMS:
Revisions to School Board Policies: presented by Steve Marku.
B-6 School Board Policy Process: clarifies the process to reflect what actually happens.
C-2.1 Board/Superintendent Relationship: Ms. Kadera clarified that these changes are not to prevent Board members from requesting information but rather if it is going to take more than a part of a day, Dr. Durán can work with the Board member on the request.
D-10.30 School Board Approval Required for Construction and Non-Construction Contracts: policy is being retired because it is covered elsewhere.
E-6 Food and Nutrition Services B-6 School: renumber the policy, some clarifications and technical changes.
Final Fiscal Close-Out Status Report and the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Quarterly Report: presented by Andy Hawkins, Assistant Superintendent, Finance and Management Services.
2023-2024 financial records are closed and audited by an independent accounting firm, receiving an unqualified opinion.
Net funds available are $21.755 million. Five of the 7 funds under the control of the School Board have carryforwards of $14 million. School operating results generated $12.8 million of that total. The other 2 funds are Food & Nutrition Services and Grants & Restricted Programs with the latter positive by $6.7 million.
The $21.755 million is the $14 million savings from operations, $2.8 million in additional County Revenue and Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) Trust Cost Recovery.
$8.97 million of these funds will be added to Compensation Reserve and the remaining $12.785 million will be added to Future Budget Years Reserve.
This compares to range of $7.751-$47.031 million over the last 5 years
Major Construction Project Budget has a balance of $217.4 million while Minor Construction/Major Maintenance has a $3.2 million balance.
Question from Ms. Turner: Clarified that the $4.958 million is what APS paid for retirees last year that can be reimbursed from the trust. Going forward we expect this annual total of recovery to grow by around $500,000. Currently, the budget is to contribute around $2.6 million to the trust but the question is if that amount should continue. The fund is not in any danger of being exhausted. The money we are taking out is less than the money being earned each year. Total amount of the fund is around $120 million.
NEW BUSINESS: None.
ADJOURNMENT