Arlington Public Schools

News

Stop giving iPads and MacBooks to all students, parent group tells APS

By Daniel Egitto
Arlington Public Schools students learning on their devices while in-person during the pandemic (via APS/X)

A parent association is asking Arlington Public Schools to change its policy of providing every student with an iPad or MacBook.

Arguing that the devices are bad for children’s mental development and needlessly expensive, Arlington Parents for Education wants the Arlington School Board to roll back funding for them this budget cycle. It is requesting an end to the one-to-one policy for students in pre-kindergarten through 2nd grade, a reduction in devices for 3rd through 5th graders and a transition to PC laptops for grades 6 and up.

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Schools

JUST IN: Police investigating racist graffiti on roof of local middle school

By ARLnow.com
Tributes to the students who integrated the former Stratford Junior High School, outside of Dorothy Hamm Middle School in 2023 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Arlington County police are investigating “extensive” graffiti, including a racist word, on the roof of Dorothy Hamm Middle School.

Families were informed of the vandalism via email yesterday.

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News

Free after-school programs, support for children with behavioral issues among top demands at Arlington budget hearing

By Daniel Egitto
VOICE volunteer Tony Striner at an Arlington County Board budget hearing (photo via Arlington County/YouTube)

Continued calls for a $2 million investment in Arlington after-school programs dominated a Tuesday meeting on the county budget.

Funding for children with behavioral issues, nature centers and a public library were among numerous other priorities that over 60 speakers expressed at the Arlington County Board meeting.

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News

State reps call on APS to provide stronger labor protections in construction of new Arlington Career Center

By Daniel Egitto
A 2023 rendering of the Arlington Career Center

Arlington’s state legislators are calling on school officials to provide more labor protections for workers building the multimillion-dollar Arlington Career Center.

Sens. Adam Ebbin and Barbara Favola, along with Delegates Patrick Hope, Alfonso Lopez and Adele McClure, sent a letter to the Arlington School Board last month requesting a prevailing wage requirement. This would require workers to receive wages comparable to market rates when constructing the roughly $180 million project at 816 S. Walter Reed Drive.

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Opinion

Morning Poll: Did you know it’s spring break?

By ARLnow.com
The Arlington Public Schools Syphax Education Center (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

In case you didn’t know before reading this post, it’s spring break for Arlington Public Schools students.

Maybe you’ve noticed it’s not quite as busy on local roads and you weren’t sure why. Now you know: a combination of school being out and some subset of APS families leaving for a spring vacation.

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Schools

Parents push back against proposed ‘pause’ to multi-year overhaul of elementary Spanish immersion programs

By Jo DeVoe
Claremont parent Meredith Judy (via Arlington Public Schools)

Arlington Public Schools is pausing for one year the rollout of changes to its Spanish immersion programs at Claremont and Escuela Key elementary schools.

The pause and how it was communicated have upset parents of students most affected by the shift: rising second-graders. In speeches to the School Board, an online petition and interviews, this group of parents is calling on the Arlington School Board and school administrators to reverse course.

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Schools

APS superintendent says lean budget proposal reflects state funding uncertainties

By Jo DeVoe
The Arlington School Board and Superintendent Francisco Durán on Feb. 29, 2024 (via APS)

(Updated at 11:05 a.m.) Arlington Public Schools Superintendent Francisco Durán has proposed a 2024-2025 budget that he says avoids new expenses in a lean fiscal year compounded by state funding uncertainty.

He presented an $824.7 million budget — which increases the current budget by $12.2 million, or 1.5% — to the Arlington School Board last week.

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Schools

Fueled by a mini-baby boom, APS enrollment could stabilize at 2019 peaks, leaving some worried about large class sizes

By Jo DeVoe
Students arrive to Gunston Middle School on the first day of school (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

A mini-baby boom could deliver Arlington Public Schools a slight enrollment bump through 2033, according to the latest 10-year projections.

The report says live births are predicted to increase by 13%, or about 300 babies, through 2028. This modest increase contrasts with a report last year predicting short-term increases followed by declines in the outer years due to declining births.

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News

County Board floats 2.5 cent tax hike, exceeding staff’s proposal amid APS budget concerns

By Daniel Egitto
Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey (via Arlington County/YouTube)

The Arlington County Board is considering a potential property tax hike that could be even higher than what County Manager Mark Schwartz proposed.

Board members yesterday (Tuesday) voted 5-0 to advertise hearings on a maximum property tax rate of $1.038 per $100 of assessed value, a 2.5 cent increase from 2023. That is 1 cent higher than the increase of 1.5 cents that Schwartz proposed in his $1.62 billion budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2025.

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Schools

Some APS parents, staff say elementary schools need science coaches to tackle persistent performance gaps

By Jo DeVoe
Science coach Carrie Lombardi teaches Barrett Elementary students about conductors (staff photo by Dan Egitto)

When Carrie Lombardi left her New York City finance job to teach at Burgundy Farm Country Day School, she was surprised to hear clucking from a colleague’s classroom one day.

The students, she learned, were raising chickens as part of their science curriculum.

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