Schools

Arlington Public Schools leaders hope to return to a lower, pre-Covid level of student absenteeism by 2030.

“That last year before the pandemic, 2018-19, we were around [an] 8% rate. We have been using that number as a goal, our star, for the last couple of years,” said Darrell Simpson, executive director for student services, during a Nov. 13 briefing of School Board members.


News

County Board members have set public hearings next month on increasing taxi fares, expanding a Green Valley Park and designating a home as a local historic district.

The Board also set a hearing on possible changes to the county’s residential parking program, adopted a meeting schedule for 2026, approved an office-to-residential conversion project in Courthouse and approved a contract for new pedestrian bridges in two parks.


Schools

Arlington Public Schools leaders have set their plans in place for deciding when to close schools for wintry weather.

The school system has 12 snow days built into the calendar for elementary school, 15 for middle and high school. Should those numbers be exceeded, leaders plan to move to virtual learning — a staple of the pandemic era — rather than lengthen the school year to meet the state minimum of 180 days or 990 hours of instructional time.


News

Suspensions were down at the start of the school year in Arlington, but some significant disparities remain across different student demographics.

First-quarter suspension totals “continue to show some overrepresentation” of certain groups, including Black students and students with disabilities, Superintendent Francisco Durán told School Board members on Nov. 13.


News

The Arlington County Board is seeking legislation that would give localities the power to limit annual increases in apartment rents.

Board members added language to their 2026 General Assembly priorities package on Saturday, seeking the ability to add “anti-rent-gouging protections.” The decision generated applause from supporters who argued that the decision could promote affordability, and criticism from opponents concerned about hindering free market solutions.


News

State Sen. Adam Ebbin has promised Arlington leaders that he will push to bring home more transit funding from the 2026 General Assembly session.

“That’ll probably be the most intense of the things I’m working on,” Ebbin (D-39) said during a Nov. 13 work session between County Board members and the community’s legislative delegation.


News

Arlington officials are asking state legislators to fill financial gaps left by the federal government’s reduction in support for local counterterrorism initiatives.

The D.C. region stands to lose about $20 million in funding — 60% of which is devoted to Northern Virginia — as the Trump administration makes changes to the Urban Areas Security Initiative.


News

Some Falls Church leaders are expressing concern over a possible General Assembly measure that would take away local power to regulate parking in development projects.

Such a measure could be introduced by Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim (D-37), who represents the city in the upper house of the legislature. The topic was among the key points discussed at the Nov. 7 meeting of the City Council’s legislative committee.


News

The two newest “stumbling stones” memorializing people enslaved in Arlington are located near a historic cemetery where the honorees are laid to rest.

The congregation of Lomax AME Zion Church was joined by community members on Nov. 9 to unveil the two new markers outside the church entrance on 24th Road S. in Green Valley.


News

Three local advocates for housing, equity and youth received high honors from the Arlington Community Foundation last week.

The latest honorees exemplify a “tireless and unselfish commitment” to serving others, said former County Board member and retired Circuit Court Judge William Newman Jr., the namesake of the 2025 William T. Newman Spirit of Community Awards.


News

Fewer than 50 votes separate a winning and losing candidate for Falls Church School Board, meaning a recount could be in the works.

Electoral Board members certified the results Wednesday (Nov. 12). After tabulating provisional ballots and those received by mail by the Nov. 7 deadline, the margin between Kathleen Tysse (3,532) and Sharon Mergler (3,485) tightened from the 56-vote margin reported on Election Night to 47 votes upon certification.


News

The housing market in Arlington held up well in October despite economic headwinds and the federal shutdown.

One key indicator: The average sales price for single-family detached homes approached $1.5 million — down from an unexpectedly high amount in September but still well above year-over-year figures.


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