School Board | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published September 24, 2019 at 7:30AM

Sunset in Crystal City, Friday, Sept. 20, 2019 in Arlington, Va. (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

Rep. Beyer Talks Impeachment — “Phones have been ringing all day with constituents calling to tell me they support impeachment, particularly following the President’s corrupt dealings with Ukraine. They are right.” [Twitter]

Westover School Project Moving Forward — “There will be no stay of execution for any of the trees on the chopping block as the Arlington school system moves forward with a new elementary school in Westover. School Board members on Sept. 19 voted to approve a construction contract for the $55 million project, which will drop a 725-student facility adjacent to Westover Library on North McKinley Road near Washington Boulevard.” [InsideNova]

Schools

APS Names Interim Superintendent

By ARLnow.com

Published July 30, 2019 at 9:15PM

Arlington Public Schools has a new interim superintendent for the new school year.

Cintia Johnson, who first joined APS in 1986 and is currently Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services, will serve as interim superintendent starting Sept. 1. The Arlington School Board unanimously approved her appointment at a special meeting Tuesday evening.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published July 30, 2019 at 7:30AM | Updated July 30, 2019 at 9:02AM

Interim APS Superintendent to Be Named — The Arlington School Board is planning to name an interim superintendent at a special meeting tonight, following the departure of long-time APS Superintendent Patrick Murphy. The School Board is expected to select a search firm by early fall to find a new, permanent superintendent. [Twitter, InsideNova]

Plan for New Ballston Metro Entrance Advancing — “Arlington County staff have been given the ‘go-ahead’ to move forward with planning a second entrance at the Ballston Metro station, according to project manager Bee Buergler, but it could be another five years before it actually comes to fruition. The project is over 15 years in the planning, but until recently it’s been held up because the building that would be above it was being redeveloped and ran into delays.” [Greater Greater Washington]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published July 3, 2019 at 7:30AM

Kayakers in the Potomac near Rosslyn and the future Arlington boathouse (Flickr pool photo by Lisa Novak)

Incubator Leaving Crystal City — “Startup incubator 1776 plans to open its new D.C. location this year and will ultimately shut down its Crystal City location. 1776 spokesman Lucas McCanna said the company will relocate to ‘the general McPherson Square area,’ but declined to give a specific address.” [Washington Business Journal]

AAA: Worst Times for Independence Day Travel — “Holiday travelers hailing from the area will face absolute gridlock along key freeway segments starting [today], July 3. Topping the list of the worst corridors for those departing Wednesday, July 3, is Interstate 270 northbound.” [Press Release]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published July 2, 2019 at 7:30AM

Talento Selected as School Board Chair — “The Arlington School Board held its annual organizational meeting for the 2019-20 school year and elected Tannia Talento as Chair and Monique O’Grady as Vice Chair. The terms for the new Chair and Vice Chair begin immediately and will continue until June 30, 2020.” [Arlington Public Schools]

Which Amazon Units Are Coming to HQ2 — “We’re still a pretty long way from knowing what the estimated 25,000 workers at Amazon.com Inc.’s second headquarters will do, but a top company executive has named three units that will be represented in Arlington: Alexa, Amazon Web Services and Amazon’s consumer division.” [Washington Business Journal]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published June 25, 2019 at 7:30AM | Updated June 25, 2019 at 8:46AM

Overturned Vehicle on GW Parkway — “The northbound George Washington Parkway was closed [past Key Bridge] during Tuesday morning’s rush hour after a vehicle overturned, authorities said… The southbound side of the parkway was also affected.” [Washington Post]

Transgender Policy Discussion at School Board Meeting — “Students, parents and advocates packed the [Arlington school] board meeting to loudly back [a transgender non-discrimination] plan, waving miniature LGBT and transgender pride flags to signal agreement with the nearly three dozen speakers who proclaimed support… Supporters on Tuesday vastly outnumbered those who turned out to protest the plans.” [Washington Post]

Schools

JUST IN: APS Superintendent Murphy Announces September Retirement

By Michael O'Connell

Published June 14, 2019 at 4:30PM | Updated June 17, 2019 at 2:00PM

(Updated 6/15/19) Dr. Patrick K. Murphy announced today that he would be retiring as superintendent of Arlington Public Schools effective Sept. 3.

Murphy, who has been APS superintendent since July 1, 2009, notified the School Board of his decision in a June 12 letter.

Schools

School Board Signs Settlement Over Services for English-Learning Students

By Airey

Published May 31, 2019 at 10:00AM | Updated May 31, 2019 at 4:56PM

(Updated at 4:50 p.m.) The Arlington School Board has agreed to sign a settlement with the federal government promising to provide more services for English-learning students in county schools.

Board members voted to allow Board Chair Reid Goldstein to sign the document during a meeting last night (Thursday), two weeks after first announcing the Department of Justice (DOJ) sought a settlement with the school district.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 30, 2019 at 7:30AM | Updated May 30, 2019 at 9:17AM

County Auditor Probes Police Overtime — “A performance audit conducted by the County Auditor as part of his Fiscal Year 2018 work plan found that the Arlington County Police Department’s overtime costs exceeded budgeted expenses in Fiscal Years 2016, 2017 and 2018. The audit did not identify any evidence of improper overtime.” [Arlington County]

Few Fireworks in School Board Race — “A relatively low-key race for the Democratic endorsement leading into November’s School Board race is headed to three days of caucus voting, with the two candidates focused more on the issues than landing body blows on each other. ‘I would prefer to talk about how we are going to move in a positive direction in the future,’ challenger David Priddy said when asked to lay out the biggest failures of the School Board during the period incumbent Reid Goldstein has served on it.” [InsideNova]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 14, 2019 at 7:30AM

Crystal City Apartment Building Sold — “A Crystal City residential property within blocks of Amazon’s planned HQ2 campus has sold for $228 million, more than double what it last sold for a decade prior, according to Arlington County property records.” [Washington Business Journal]

It’s National Police Week — Law enforcement officers from around the country and the world are in the D.C. area for National Police Week. The annual series of events is held to honor officers who have paid the ultimate sacrifice. As in years past, Arlington County Police motorcycle officers are assisting with the numerous motorcades associated with Police Week. [Twitter]

Schools

County Board To Vote on 600-Student Expansion at W-L

By Airey

Published May 13, 2019 at 10:00AM

Arlington County Board will take a final vote this Saturday on a plan to add capacity for 600 additional students at Washington-Lee High School by building classrooms in its nearby office building.

Arlington Public Schools requested a permit change in order to convert the former administrative offices at the Education Center (1426 N. Quincy Street) on the W-L campus into educational space. The 24,600-square-foot space is slated to be converted into classrooms, a science lab, gym, and a “commons” area, with a fall 2021 completion date, according to a staff report submitted to the Board.

Schools

School Board Approves $669.5 Million APS Budget

By Airey

Published May 10, 2019 at 3:45PM

The Arlington School Board unanimously passed a $669.5 million budget Thursday night.

The budget includes funding for Arlington’s continually expanding school enrollment, with 1,000 more students expected to attend class in the county next year alone. Members also approved a $10.7 million pay increase for Arlington Public Schools staff and funded a study to evaluate salary structure ideas for the future, such as using cost-of-living adjustments instead of discretionary “step” increases.