Summary of May 9, 2024 School Board Meeting
Meeting Open: David Priddy opened the meeting, indicating that Cristina Diaz-Torres is out on maternity leave.
Consent Agenda Unanimously Adopted
Approved new appointments at APS
Adopted grant application for high school robotics
Adopted modifications to School Board policy on students-wellness
Board Announcements:
Next School Board meeting is on May 16th
Superintendent’s Announcements and Updates
Every Student Counts video focused on APS’ secondary literacy program
This week was Teacher Appreciation Week
APS is having its 2024 Celebration of Excellence on May 21st at 5:30 pm at Washington-Liberty High School, celebrating 5 APS employees winning awards for excellence this school year
Extended Day Registration for next school year’s Extended Day Program begins on Monday, May 13th
APS high school graduations will be held June 7-14.
Boundary policy revisions are coming as follows:
Elementary School – Proposal and Engagement in Summer and Fall 2025, School Board Vote December 2025, and Implementation Fall 2026
Middle School – Proposal and Engagement in Summer and Fall 2025, School Board Vote December 2025, and Implementation Fall 2026
High School – Proposal and Engagement after 2026-27SY
9 APS students from APS’ Teachers for Tomorrow and Early Childhood Programs signed agreements to join APS after college (6 as teachers, 3 as teaching assistants). Upon graduation from college, these students are guaranteed roles at APS.
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver Program received a national award as a Special Olympics National Unified Champion School.
Public Comment
An Arlington resident spoke against screen time for children, proposing APS’ use of screen time for educational purposes be minimized and the school district adopt an away for the day policy for all schools K-12.
An APS teacher spoke against the elimination of the Assistant Principal position at Arlington Community High School.
An APS teacher spoke about employee compensation and the lack of prevailing wage standards in the construction contract for the Arlington Career Center.
An Arlington parent spoke about the lack of prevailing wage standards in the construction contract for the Arlington Career Center.
An APS teacher spoke against option schools as systematically creating segregation.
An APS teacher spoke against APS’ level of compensation of teachers.
The chair of the Arlington Career Center planning committee spoke in favor of approving the construction contract for the Arlington Career Center.
The Vice President of the Arlington Education Association spoke about continuing problems with APS’ HR department.
The President of the Arlington Education Association spoke about teachers having issues with school administrators.
An APS teacher spoke about class size issues at Yorktown High School.
An Arlington resident spoke about the lack of prevailing wage standards in the construction contract for the Arlington Career Center.
Former School Board Member Tannia Talento spoke about the lack of prevailing wage standards in the construction contract for the Arlington Career Center.
An APS teacher spoke about the need for capital improvements at Thomas Jefferson Middle School.
The president of the building trades council for Northern Virginia spoke about the lack of prevailing wage standards in the construction contract for the Arlington Career Center.
Student Advisory Board
The leadership of the Student Advisory Board (SAB) gave their annual presentation to the School Board. The SAB is a representative group of APS high schools.
Students identified four issues for discussion with the School Board:
Mental Health: Students want fidgets in classrooms
Responsible Use of Technology: Students want more transparency into APS intiatives regarding edtech, AI, phones and the appeal process for blocked-sites on APS devices
The Grading and Test Re-Take Policy: Students do not like the 80% cutoff for retakes (i.e., you can only do a retake of a test if you score below 80% and the highest grade you can get on a retake is 80%)
Students are discussing a variety of options, including (i) a 90% cutoff, (ii) a 90% cutoff and you can score above 90% on the retake, (iii) no cutoff for retakes, and (iv) addressing teacher workload imbalances due to the retake policy
School Climate and Culture: Students are concerned with fights, and propose more (a) restorative practices as a form of rehabilitation (not detention or suspension) and (b) counseling staff
Questions
Ms. Kadera asked for SAB’s position on an Away-for-the-Day cell phone policy (where cell phones are not allowed to be used during the school day). SAB would oppose such a policy and students would possibly protest against it if implemented.
Mr. Priddy asked about fighting in school. SAB said a common theme of such fights were being over petty issues, and the fights eventually escalating into physical violence. SAB said a concern was that there was a lack of transparency into how these issues were being handled by APS afterwards.
Action Item #1 – Career Center Contract
Dr. Durán announced that he and the School Board will be working on a new School Board policy to covering prevailing wage issues in construction contracts going forward, with its effectiveness likely in September. In the meantime, Whiting-Turner Contracting Company is going to be requiring:
Verifying payroll for all subcontractors for compliance with Virginia payroll laws
Assigning salaried supervisory personnel to ensure there’s a safe environment for workers
The School Board voted to approve 4-0 to:
Award contract 39FY24 for the New Arlington Career Center Facility Project to The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company in the amount of $132,464,590;
Approve a project budget of $175M to be funded with $173.37M Bonds, $1.25M from Operating Funds, $.38M from the Capital Reserve; and
Approve $4.8M, which is included in the budgeted $175M project budget, to Turner & Townsend Heery as the Construction Manager.
Action Item #2 – Roof Replacement Contract for Escuela Key
The School Board voted to approve 3-0 (Ms. Zecher-Sutton had to leave prior to the vote).
Information Item #1 – Career Center Name Change
The options for the Career Center were presented, as discussed by the Career Center Naming Committee. The top 3 choices in a survey were the Arlington Career and Technical Center, the Arlington Career Center, and the Grace Hopper Academy.
The Naming Committee’s primary recommendation is “The Pike Campus” while the secondary recommendation is “Grace Hopper Campus.”
The School Board will act on this item at the May 16th School Board meeting.
Information Item #2 – Revisions to School Board Policies re: (i) Foreign Exchange Student Programs and (ii) Religious Exemption to Compulsory Attendance
APS is proposing to revise its foreign exchange students programs policy to allow for requests for foreign exchange admissions after August 1 and clarify that APS cannot guarantee it will accept credits earned abroad. APS is also proposing to reorganize its compulsory attendance policy to better align with Virginia law.
Information Item #3 – Proposed Virginia School Board Association Legislative Positions
Each year, the Virginia School Board Association (VSBA) puts together its legislative positions for the following year’s General Assembly session. School Board across Virginia can submit positions to the VSBA for consideration over the summer.
APS staff is recommending two positions be sent to the VSBA for the General Assembly to enact legislating:
Overturning decisions of the Virginia State Board of Education on the proposed Virginia accountability system to:
weight mastery heavier than growth (APS wants growth weighed equally whereas the State Board decided to weigh mastery heavier; and
how English Language Learners are accounted in the accountability system (the current combined accreditation and accountability system exempts those ELLs with 11 semesters in a US school, whereas the proposed accountability system proposes to exempt those ELLs with up to 3 semesters)
Opposing legislation to add new mandated teacher training without removing at least one existing training, and supporting a comprehensive review of all legislatively mandated teacher trainings.
