Summary of February 27, 2025 School Board Meeting

Opening: Call to Order; 

Presentation of Colors was made by the Arlington Career Center Space Force JROTC Cadets Corps

Consent Agenda: Consent Agenda passes 5-0. Consent includes several new appointments and hires. Consent includes the Safe School Zone Resolution which details how APS schools every student regardless of immigration status or background. APS formally declares schools to be Safe Zones, where students can focus on learning and the presence of immigration officials won’t disrupt the educational experience. Ms. Zecher Sutton, as the Policy Chair, further detailed a policy amendment to be presented later in the meeting detailing APS’s protocol for staff for engagement with law enforcement agencies that APS does not have a Memoranda of Agreement. 

Ms. Kadera then highlighted the APS Honored Citizens Award submission and asked that anyone who wants to nominate a citizen for extraordinary service to APS should please consider doing so.

Finally, Ms. Kadera acknowledged the stress the budget and possible cuts are putting on staff and the community. She explained that she wanted to be transparent and goes on to discuss the structural deficit APS is in because APS’s revenues have not kept pace with its spending. She explained APS’s sources of funding and the limits on their revenues or transfers to APS (County, State, and Federal), as well as the higher expenses APS faces, citing both inflation and the changing needs of APS population, citing 1,500 more English Learners and 600 more students with disabilities than a decade ago. She also acknowledged that some of the spending is because of choices APS has made. Finally, Ms. Kadera highlighted the importance of transparency and highlighted several upcoming meetings, including the joint budget presentation at the March 13 SB meeting.  

School Board Announcements: None

Superintendent’s Announcements and Updates. 

Dr. Durán opened by acknowledging the Dear Colleague letter from the US Department of Education on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion which says DEI efforts are at odds with longstanding civil rights laws. Dr. Durán says he has concerns about the letter’s potential impact on APS, and the fear and uncertainty its created among students and staff. Dr. Durán reaffirmed that APS will continue to uphold its non-discrimination policies and practices which aligns with APS’s efforts to be inclusive regardless of race, sex, gender, disability, nationality, or any other characteristic, and that APS’s DEI practices fully align with federal law. He then shows a video on DEI and culturally responsive teaching. 

Next, Dr. Durán moved to additional announcements. He highlighted the Your Voice Matter survey which is running until 13 March, the upcoming budget meetings, and the upcoming SEL survey for students. Dr. Durán then announced that APS has transitioned from X to Bluesky because engagement on X has dropped, is largely negative, and has much engagement from outside of APS. He noted this has been in works for two years and that a listening report shows very negative sentiment and engagement. 

Dr. Durán then highlighted Roberta Flack who passed and had attended APS where she received her first music education. He acknowledged that many community members are losing federal jobs and notes that APS will host an upcoming resource fair. Finally, he highlighted Cardinal Elementary’s donations to LA fire victims. 

SB questions:

Ms. Turner asked about the data behind the Bluesky transition, why APS couldn’t be on both platforms, and which platform has more reach. Ms. Ashby noted that X has a fee and Bluesky does not, and noted it’ll be a phased transition and enable APS to regain control over APS accounts. Ms. Turner asks why not remain on X, given that Bluesky has 5 percent the number of followers, and Ms. Ashby responds that the engagement on X was outside of APS community. Finally, Dr. Durán said most of the followers were from outside of the community and negative, and they want to remain positive and encourage positive engagement. 

Public Comment on Agenda and Non-Agenda Items:

There were 30 speakers for public comment. 11 speakers advocated for the continuation of the Integration Station program which serves special needs preschoolers and spoke about the impact of the program. Three speakers spoke against the reduction in contract length and compensation for Instructional Technology Coordinators. Seven speakers thanked APS for its commitment to DEI policies and practices, particularly for trans and LGBTQ students and staff. Three speakers advocated against the proposed cuts for Library Assistants in elementary schools. One student spoke in favor of a climate resilience resolution. One speak spoke about CRT in schools. One speaker spoke against the continued reliance on iPads in elementary schools and discussed the negative consequences of the K-5 iPad contract. One speaker spoke against the mandatory vaccine policy. Two speakers spoke in favor of cutting administrative costs and saving student facing positions in the upcoming budget cycle, including by not increasing elementary classroom sizes. One speaker spoke in favor of the APS’s DEI policies and practices, and its move to Bluesky, while sharing concerns about staff compensation in the upcoming budget. 

Monitoring Item: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Report

The DEI Monitoring Report provided an update on the DEI Office’s work and alignment to APS’ Strategic Plan by Dr. Julie Crawford, Dr. Tyrone Byrd, and Ms. Cristin Schulman. The goal of the DEI office is to know each student by name strength, and need. During questions, Ms. Tapia-Hadley thanked staff for DEI efforts of DEI during these trying times and asked for more detail on how the information is broken down on areas of growth, such as inclusion of Els.

APS staff noted that they identified areas and goals in their Department plan and explained that they support the Academic Departments and often sit in on Department meetings to identify areas of need (or success). They noted that the DEI office also tracks incidents to meet with students and staff to address areas of concern. Dr. Byrd said that there are 15 indicators of culturally responsive behavior and teaching and they work with educators to help them operationalize the ambition of students feeling seen, heard, and validated.

Ms. Tapia-Hadley then asked for staff to elaborate on how all students benefit from DEI efforts. 

APS staff noted that when students feel good about themselves they feel good about their neighbors and they feel better about their behaviors and actions. Helps all students achieve at higher levels.

Ms. Clark thanked staff for the presentation and commended Dr. Durán for subbing once a month in the classroom. Ms. Clark suggested that APS conduct care and learnings in PTAs to help support students with hidden disabilities, particularly parent training about the importance of inclusion.

Dr. Durán says he learned while subbing in a co-taught classroom how all students can have access to advanced learning and that the Advanced Academics Office is a leader in this space.

Ms. Turner commended Dr. Durán and other members of Central Office and staff for subbing in the classrooms. Ms. Turner asked for the key performance indicators and how APS could address KPIs in a more systematic way with data to advance student outcomes both academically and socially.

Dr. Byrd responded that APS is using Your Voice Matters and APS’ academic tests to identify children and to evaluate if there is a symbiotic relationship between DEI office and these data. They are also tracking the discipline data, which is an area of growth. 

Ms. Zecher Sutton asked staff about professional development available to teachers and staff to learn more about the changing needs of students. Dr. Byrd responded that DEI partners with offices and schools to make these opportunities available, including asynchronously, and that they tailor the opportunities to specific school or circumstance needs, such as adding hate-speech training. 

Ms. Zecher Sutton asked for more details on trauma-informed counseling. APS staff responded by explaining how to recognize trauma and that APS colleagues in social work, psychology, and counseling provide the mental health support. The DEI staff provides resources, but not direct support. 

Ms. Zecher Sutton noted that DEI is not indoctrination, nor does it preference one group over another. 

Ms. Kadera thanked the DEI office for its work and asked about efforts to create Affinity groups for staff members across the system. We look to continue to move this forward. They have one group now for trans staff and students, but this is usually an HR effort and its nascent at this point. Ms. Kadera asked about the Young Scholars program, which Ms. McCullough noted is a program to identify students in underrepresented groups and give them extensions and experiences to grow and then they might be identified as Advanced Academics. Ms. Kadera noted that we need to be thinking about the difference in affluence as well. 

Ms. Clark asked if there was training for parents and students on how to interpret the SEL scores. 

Action Items: 

PreK Resource Adoption Ms. Tapia-Hadley motions to approve. Ms. Zecher-Sutton seconds the motion. The motion passes 5-0.

Information Items: 

Construction Contract Change Order.  Mr. Jeffrey Chambers, Director of Design and Construction presented the construction change order for the New Arlington Career Center facility project which is a result of unforeseen subsurface conditions and unforeseen permit changes. The proposed change order is for $1,616,233, but that’s within the current funding available approved by the School Board so no increase in funding is necessary. 

Ms. Kadera asked about the note about the additional costs that are anticipated. Mr. Chambers responded that they expect it to be significantly less because it’s a smaller area. Ms. Kadera then asked about the details behind the permitting slide. Mr. Chambers explained that it was part of the process in this particular effort. 

Ms. Zecher-Sutton asked if they considered giving the Arlington County Fire Department was given the opportunity to do a controlled burn. 

Ms. Tapia-Hadley asked about the disposal of the toxic oil. Mr. Chambers responded that everything was done according to code and thoroughly and according to the prescribed process. 

New Business: 

Amendments to School Board Policy K-14.1.10.31 School and Police Relations and Revisions

Mr. Marku explained that APS has been in the process of updating this policy. The updates were to: Add procedures detailing how APS interacts with law enforcement agencies other than ACPD that do not have an MOU with APS; Require that other law enforcement agents present a valid, signed judicial warrant or subpoena and require that they be turned away without one; Require school personnel to contact the Division Counsel or designee and wait for the Counsel’s office to review and verify any warrant or subpoena; Applies to anyone in the school building, including students, staff, volunteers, and parents/guardians; If a valid, signed judicial warrant or subpoena is presented, agents will wait in the main office while staff bring the person to them. These procedures clarify for school-based staff what to do if this situation arises. 

Ms. Zecher Sutton noted that school staff do not have responsibility to deal with outside law enforcement, and front office staff have a hard copy School Board level policy to give to law enforcement if this situation arises. 

Ms. Tapia-Hadley explained that the goal is providing clarity and this shows APS is head of the game and provides staff and community with more support. Ms. Tapia-Hadley emphasized the theme of keeping students safe, and this policy helps support that. She went further to explain that this policy could keep many groups safe now or in the future. 

Ms. Clark explained that in other areas there are fake ICE raids, and this will help protect staff, students, and community members. 

Ms. Zecher Sutton motioned to approve the amendments to K‐14.1.10.31 School and Police Relations and Ms. Turner seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.

Staff are proposing the following changes to K‐14.1.10.31 School and Police Relations. ∙ Add procedures detailing how APS interacts with law enforcement agencies other than ACPD that do not have an MOU with APS.

Meeting adjourned.