Arlington Public Schools officials are brainstorming ways to encourage special-education teachers to serve as summer school instructors.
A little over half of educators who taught special-ed students at the secondary level during the 2025 summer school program expressed interest in returning for 2026, according to a survey conducted by the school system and reported at the Feb. 5 School Board meeting.
The return rate of 57% is well below the 70% to 93% expected for other summer-school instructors.
Retaining special-education teachers is “one of the challenges every school year,” School Board member Kathleen Clark said. She pressed APS leaders to do what they can to recruit and retain these teachers for the month-long summer school program.
“From a special-education perspective, if we can get through [summer with] kids maintaining their routines, it is so much more helpful to begin, go back into the school year, so they don’t lose those skills,” Clark said.
Clark encourages Superintendent Francisco Durán to explore “bonuses for these hard-to-fill positions.”
Durán appeared hesitant to go that route, but said there were alternatives.
“We’re looking at other possibilities,” he said.
Brian Stockton, the school system’s chief of staff, said a broad range of options are being considered to recruit summer-school teachers, especially those with special-education training.
“We’re meeting on a regular basis to try to come up with things to help them out,” Stockton said.
School Board member Monique “Moe” Bryant agreed that alternative incentives should be considered, because “bonuses could potentially be very pricey.”
Apart from the secondary-school special-education instructors, the survey revealed healthy majorities of 2025 summer-school teachers were eager to return.
“We were encouraged by the staff responses. This retention of experienced summer staff is crucial,” said Stephanie McIntyre, the school system’s director of instructional support.
The 2025 summer school program offered fewer options than in previous years, but served over 5,000 students.
Registration for the 2026 session begins April 6. Classes will run July 6-31.
