Summary of October 29, 2024 School Board Meeting Notes

Nov 4

Meeting Open: Mary Kadera opened the meeting, which was followed by recognition of new hires at APS.

Consent Agenda Unanimously Adopted

Approved new appointments at APS
Approved appointments to School Board advisory committees
Approved revisions to certain policies
Approved deed of temporary easement for the County to work on 2 construction projects at Kenmore Middle School

Board Announcements:

The next policy subcommittee meeting will be on November 6th
The annual School Board legislative breakfast will be held with local elected officials and school board representatives from Alexandria and Falls Church on November 7th
Next School Board meeting is on November 14th

Superintendent’s Announcements and Updates

Every Student Counts video focused on the new AP African American History course at Wakefield and the IB Global Politics class at Washington-Liberty
This week is APS Safety and Emergency Management Week, and a video produced by Gunston students was shown regarding safety procedures
APS and the Arlington County Police Department entered into an updated MOU as such MOU is reviewed on an annual basis
The current health benefits expire December 2026. The RFP for the new benefits provider will be issued in November 2025, with a provider to be selected in May 2026
The Benefits and Wellness Engagement Committee has been formed and will meet to ensure decisions regarding benefits and health reflect staff input
Three APS schools earned the Highest Exemplar Award from the Virginia Board of Education (Arlington Traditional School, Nottingham, Tuckahoe)

Public Comment

An APS high school student spoke about her inability to be a peer tutor because of supposed APS liability issues.
An APS high school student spoke about the inability to take certain AP Physics courses at Washington-Liberty.
An APS high school teacher spoke about additional personnel support in classrooms in the budget.
An APS high school teacher spoke about the need for teachers and co-teachers to be provided with chairs.
2 APS staff members spoke about problems with bus transportation and suggestions on how to better retain transportation employees.
6 Arlington residents spoke about the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Monitoring Item – Social Studies Update

Provided an overview of Advanced Placement (AP) courses at APS in general, including detailed charts and graphs regarding AP participation and success rates for APS students
Highlighted the new AP African American studies course
Described steps for increasing access and support in AP courses, including among underrepresented groups

Action Items

Directs the Superintendent to prepare a needs-based budget that includes several draft scenarios through which a balanced budget could be achieved, in the event that the school division’s needs are not fully funded by projected revenues.
Prioritizes supporting, recruiting and retaining highly qualified staff, with a focus on compensation.
Preserves student-facing resources and roles that are aligned with our priorities and strategies for student academic growth and well-being as much as possible.
Identifies opportunities for cost savings via targeted, strategic realignment of funds rather than across-the-board percentage cuts to departments and schools whenever possible.
Minimizes the use of general reserve funds for operating expenses (excepting the Compensation Reserve), consistent with the principle that one-time funds should be used only for one-time costs.

Unanimously approved the legislative package, which asks for, among other things:

A delay in the implementation of the accountability system for a year;
Native language SOL assessments for English Learners;
Growth to be weighted equal to mastery at the for the Elementary School level for the accountability system;
A comprehensive review of all state mandated teacher trainings;
Approval of JLARC funding reforms;
Opposition of any public education funds to lab schools or private schools, including in the form of tax deductions;
Requiring gun owners to keep their weapons and ammunition in locked storage when not in use; and
Option for school board advisory committees to be able to meet virtually.

Information Items

Efficiency – utilizing school capacity to minimize current and future capital and operating costs
Proximity – encouraging the relationship between schools and the community by assigning students to schools near their residences considering walking distance, school bus times and costs, and walking safety
Alignment – minimizing the number of schools each cohort of students from an individual school progresses to at the next level as much as is practical
Demographics – promoting diversity in our school communities and attending to how the proposed change impacts groups of students

Add more bases for changing boundaries (program location adjustments, new school sites or programs, and repurposing of schools).
Add that changes are based on schools being 15% over or under building design capacity, and that the trend is projected to continue.
Small boundary adjustments may be made without going through a full boundary process under the following limited conditions. This process would only apply to new developments before they have been occupied by residents.
No student who has continued to live in the same residence will be made to change schools via a boundary change more than once during their time in each school level (elementary, middle, or high).
Review whether boundary changes will occur every 2 years, instead of every 5. Note that this does NOT mean that boundary changes will occur every 2 years, just that there will be a review of whether to do them every 2 years.

Updated the criteria within each standard to more closely reflect the more recent state guidelines that were issued in 2022 and to better reflect measurable objectives that align with the Strategic Plan.
Public comment conducted, which was largely positive.

Asking for approval for (i) the construction contract of $1.25M and (ii) a total project budget of $2.2M
The project will be under budget
This will be the first construction project under the new prevailing wage policy

Asking for approval for (i) the construction contract of $2.15M and (ii) a total project budget of $3.4M
The project will be under budget

Summary of November 14, 2024 School Board Meeting Notes