A Wakefield High School senior is among a small group of Arlington students who have spent the past four months gathering feedback from fellow youth about the current state of the school system.
In an April 30 presentation to the School Board, Zach Dawson said there were areas where Arlington Public Schools was meeting students’ needs, but other areas where it was falling short.
Two LGBTQ+ advocacy groups are calling on Arlington Public Schools to address the disproportionate mental health and safety outcomes negatively affecting its LGBTQ+ student population.
In a new joint letter to APS leaders, the groups, Equality Arlington and the Arlington Gender Identity Alliance (AGIA), are asking the school system to implement a more targeted response to the mental health challenges, violence, discrimination and bullying that its LGBTQ+ students experience at elevated rates when compared to fellow students.
A plan to use artificial intelligence to read off the names of graduates at Washington-Liberty High School received pushback at last week’s School Board meeting.
June Prakash used the Board’s public-comment period to decry a partnership with a company that uses AI to correctly pronounce students’ names and read them off at a consistent rhythm during graduation ceremonies.
A local advocacy group is pressing Arlington Public Schools’ leaders to have students in class five days per week on a more frequent basis.
“APS’ own attendance policy highlights that ‘missing just two days a month can negatively impact learning,’ yet the district’s calendars routinely miss multiple days of instruction per month,” Arlington Parents for Education (APE) said in a recent newsletter.
School leaders are projecting a gradual decline in student enrollment over the next decade — but they don’t believe it will translate to lower costs.
In total, Arlington Public Schools now projects a 3.7% decrease in enrollment by 2035, even as the number of students in high-risk categories is showing signs of increasing.
An Arlington eighth grader brought the fight for boys volleyball to last week’s School Board meeting.
Sam Luchessi, a student at Kenmore Middle School, pressed Board members to include funding in their fiscal year 2027 budget so the sport could be added at the high-school level. The Arlington school system already funds girls volleyball, with competition in the fall.
Arlington Public Schools’ region high per-student spending came under scrutiny as County Board and School Board members last month sat down for budget discussions.
“We’re spending significant money,” County Board member Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., said at the March 12 discussion between the two elected bodies.
Advocates for permanent local funding for after-school programs received support, but not necessarily promises, from county leaders at a March 27 rally.
Hundreds turned out for the evening program at Kenmore Middle School, urging county leaders to see the value in safety-net programs for students.
The Arlington School Board’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget makes no immediate revisions to a nearly $860 million spending package presented by the superintendent.
The School Board package lining up with that of Superintendent Francisco Durán “is not unusual” at this stage of the budget process, School Board Chair Bethany Zecher Sutton said at the March 26 Board meeting.
Arlington Public Schools students will have off during a statewide redistricting referendum following a divided School Board vote last week.
In a 3-2 vote last Thursday, School Board members voted to give students the day off on Tuesday, April 21. The decision represented a split between a majority who saw logistical and safety concerns in keeping students in class, and those who did not wish to lose another instructional day and force parents to scramble for daycare options.
A rally in support of after-school programming in Arlington will take place later this week at Kenmore Middle School.
Organizers plan to ask leaders to “work with us over the next year to ensure that what has been called a pilot program will become permanent, with ongoing funding and a path toward expansion to meet the needs of children in our community,” said Marjorie Green of Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement (VOICE).
The Arlington School Board is poised to adopt more comprehensive conflict-of-interest rules, while also authorizing a hotline for staff to report suspected financial impropriety.
Assuming the pair of new policies is adopted at the March 26 School Board meeting, the new hotline for waste, fraud and abuse will be in operation “in the coming weeks,” said Steven Marku, the school system’s director of policy and legislative affairs, at a March 12 meeting.
