Schools

Start-of-school enrollment in Arlington is down from a year before and below springtime projections, but could move higher by the time a final tally is compiled at the end of the month.

Arlington Public Schools counted 27,603 students in pre-kindergarten to 12th-grade classes on Sept. 4, Superintendent Francisco Durán reported to School Board members that evening.


News

VHC Health has filed requests for land-use changes to support a new behavioral-health facility in Glencarlyn.

The submission, made Aug. 29, formally kicks off what could be a lengthy review process for a county-owned parcel at 601 S. Carlin Springs Road. The hospital organization is seeking to lease some of the 11.5 acres for the new structure.


News

Arlington’s unemployment rate ticked up once again in July, continuing a months-long trend that has paralleled federal downsizing across the region.

The county’s unemployment rate stood at 3.5% last month, slightly above 3.4% in June and a major increase from 2.5% in July 2024.


News

Members of an advisory panel are suggesting that the County Board might need to intervene in issues with a transportation program for residents with disabilities.

Karen Audant, interim chair of the Disability Advisory Commission, said she is “deeply concerned” about the operations of the Specialized Transit for Arlington Residents (STAR) program following a scathing report on the initiative from the county’s internal auditor, Wayne Scott.


News

Efforts to provide more funding for Arlington’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund (AHIF) will require buy-in from elected officials, the development industry, the General Assembly, activists and the broader community to be viable, an advisory panel believes.

“We should take the time and get it right,” said Joe Ventrone, a member of the Housing Commission’s working group on revisions to the government’s affordable-housing ordinance.


News

A controversial sign at an Arlington transgender rights rally last week is prompting public condemnation from organizers and invigorating supporters of Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears.

The sign in question reads, “Hey Winsome, if trans can’t share your bathroom then Blacks can’t share my water fountain.” It went viral on social media following a post on X from the Arlington GOP.


Schools

Arlington Public Schools leaders are playing their cards close to their chests following the end of a federal investigation into the school system’s anti-discrimination policy.

In response to demands from the U.S. Department of Education, which targeted policies allowing transgender students to use facilities corresponding with their gender identities, Superintendent Francisco Durán said only that APS has received the findings and is formulating a response.


News

Falls Church is considering changes to trash and recycling services, but city leaders say a voter referendum is unlikely.

The changes could decrease the financial burden on some property owners while increasing fees for single-family homeowners.


News

If you don’t like the way the County Board conducts public-comment sessions, come up with an alternative proposal.

That was the message from Board Chair Takis Karantonis on July 19, as the governing body again received criticism for limiting speakers at public-comment sessions to one per topic.


News

A County Board member has pledged that neither elected officials nor staff will try an end-around to raze the existing Melwood site for redevelopment until the historic-preservation process plays itself out.

“We have already implemented measures to ensure that no [demolition or use] permits are issued” before any decision by the County Board takes place, County Board member Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., said at the July 16 meeting of the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB).


News

The Arlington Tenant-Landlord Commission is refereeing a dispute about living conditions at The Shelton affordable-housing apartments.

On one side is the Green Valley Civic Association, which contends the property owner is turning a blind eye to everything from drug use to needed apartment repairs.


News

Arlington’s two Republican members of the Electoral Board appear at loggerheads over how long early-voting dropboxes should be available before Election Day.

Richard Samp, the senior Republican on the three-member panel and its vice chair, used the July 8 board meeting to press for a reduction from more than 40 days of use to just 10. Not everyone was in favor.


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