Arlington Public Schools ended the 2024-25 school year with nearly a quarter-million dollars in uncollected debt for student meals.
School Board members authorized the transfer of $248,523 in funding to cover the shortfall on Thursday. Of that total, about 80% was from students who have graduated, while the remainder was from students classified as inactive, according to a staff report.
A freeze on federal education dollars cast $1.5 million in Arlington Public Schools funding into doubt.
This was the amount of funding at APS that the U.S. Department of Education withheld for weeks as part of a review to ensure that spending aligned with the White House’s priorities.
A new policy on notifying parents about confirmed and suspected drug overdoses could be going into effect at Arlington Public Schools.
To comply with a new state law that went into effect July 1, the Arlington School Board is considering a new policy statement requiring the notification of all parents or guardians at a school within 24 hours of a school-connected student overdose.
Arlington’s new School Board chair is promising to protect community values she sees as under threat from the state and federal governments.
Bethany Zecher Sutton’s colleagues unanimously selected her to chair the School Board at a meeting yesterday (Tuesday), replacing Chair Mary Kadera.
More partnerships with civic and business leaders could be coming to Arlington Public Schools as the school system seeks to rebuild relationships that suffered during the pandemic.
Superintendent Francisco Durán spotlighted a work-based readiness program at a meeting with School Board members earlier this month. He said that enhancing the program is one of the primary goals of a partnership improvement plan.
Two Arlington elementary schools will no longer receive federal Title I funding in the new school year, while another will join the list of those that do.
Abingdon Elementary and Hoffman-Boston Elementary no longer qualify for the program, which supports schools with a high concentration of students in economic need.
An advocacy group is calling on Arlington school officials to push back on a new state policy on reporting students as either male or female.
On May 12, the Virginia Department of Education’s policy on records collection removed an option to designate some students as “other” rather than male or female.
Arlington school officials expect to record the highest on-time-graduation rate since data began being reported nearly two decades ago, based on preliminary data shared June 12 with the community.
Superintendent Francisco Durán estimated that Class of 2025’s on-time graduation will reach 95% when final figures are tabulated and reported in the fall.
The Arlington School Board appointed a new principal at Washington-Liberty High School last night (Thursday) in a controversial vote.
The unanimous decision to select Alexander Duncan III — currently the executive principal of Alexandria City High School, Virginia’s largest public high school — came despite efforts to keep interim principal Christian Willmore.
The estimated cost of building a new career center on S. Walter Reed Drive is ratcheting up again because of unforeseen conditions at the project’s construction site.
School Board members will receive a presentation on Thursday on appropriating another $1.18 million in contingency funds for the project.
With the filing deadline for candidates only about a week away, the race for one open position on the Arlington School Board has moved into general-election mode.
Democratic endorsee Monique “Moe” Bryant currently faces only one competitor in the Nov. 4 election, returning candidate Major Webb. At least one other candidate is also seeking to qualify before the June 17 filing deadline.
Public opinion won the day on two contentious issues as School Board members finalized an $844.6 million budget last week.
The new spending package, approved last Thursday, is up 2.2% from the fiscal year ending June 30. It includes funding for continuing the Integration Station early-childhood program and retaining library aides as full-time positions.
