School Board | ARLnow.com

Published December 3, 2018 at 1:45PM | Updated December 3, 2018 at 2:11PM

A sign in front of Washington-Lee High School in 2018

Washington-Lee High School could soon be renamed to honor Mildred and Richard Loving, the Virginia couple who successfully challenged the state’s ban on interracial marriages before the Supreme Court.

A committee tasked with suggesting a new name for the school voted on Thursday (Nov. 29) to recommend “Washington-Loving” as its new moniker, according to School Board spokeswoman Linda Erdos. She added that the committee’s second choice was “Washington-Liberty High School” in passing along recommendations to the Board.

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: Converting Drew into a STEAM Option School is a ‘Ridiculous’ Plan

By ARLnow.com

Published November 29, 2018 at 5:45PM

The following Letter to the Editor was submitted by Amelia Black, a Nauck resident living within Drew Model School’s attendance boundaries and the mother of two young children.

She penned this note to the Arlington School Board as it weighs a redrawing of South Arlington school boundaries. Parents at Henry Elementary School have proposed converting Drew into a neighborhood school accepting countywide transfers for a “STEAM” program in order to address some of their boundary concerns. The Board has dismissed the possibility of such a proposal, and is set to vote on a final boundary map next month.

Schools

Parents Feel Betrayed By APS Proposal to Send Henry ES Students to Schools Other Than Fleet

By Alex Koma

Published November 28, 2018 at 3:45PM | Updated November 29, 2018 at 9:50AM

Erin Wasiak, co-president of the Henry Parent-Teacher Association, speaks at a public hearing on elementary school boundaries.

(Updated at 9:50 a.m.) Many parents of Patrick Henry Elementary School students have expected, for years, that their community would move as one to Alice West Fleet Elementary when it opens next fall.

They believe Arlington school officials have repeatedly promised them as much over the years, as deliberations have progressed over the best way to build a new South Arlington elementary school, then shift Drew Model School’s Montessori program to Henry’s old building. That’s why so many Henry parents are now furious that Superintendent Patrick Murphy’s proposal for a redrawing of school boundaries would send more than a fifth of current Henry students to schools other than Fleet.

Schools

APS Weighs Giving Staff Columbus Day Off Next Year, Adding Vacation Day for Students

By Alex Koma

Published November 26, 2018 at 3:45PM

Arlington school officials are weighing a new proposal to give all staff Columbus Day off next year, a move that would end up giving students another day home from school in the process.

The county school system is currently accepting feedback on two options for the 2019-2020 year. One would maintain Columbus Day, which will fall on Oct. 14 next year, as a holiday for students and a “professional learning day” for all year-round employees, with those same workers getting Dec. 26 as a day off.

Schools

Plans for New Reed School Set to Win County Approval This Weekend

By Alex Koma

Published November 15, 2018 at 2:45PM

A rendering of the new Reed Elementary School (via Arlington Public Schools)

Construction could soon get started on the new elementary school planned for the Reed School site in Westover, as the project looks set to earn the county’s approval this weekend.

The County Board is set to vote Saturday (Nov. 17) on a few zoning and easement tweaks for the property, located at 1644 N. McKinley Road. Arlington Public Schools is hoping to open the building in time for the 2021-2022 school year, and it will serve at least 732 students in all.

Schools

School Board Vigorously Defends Washington-Lee Renaming Process in New Court Filings

By Alex Koma

Published November 14, 2018 at 1:45PM

A sign in front of Washington-Lee High School in 2018

Opponents of the decision to change the name of Washington-Lee High School have long claimed the School Board improperly cast aside its established engagement process on the matter — but the school system has now provided its most robust rebuttal of those charges to date.

A trio of students at Washington-Lee are hoping to block the school’s renaming with a lawsuit targeting the School Board and other top Arlington Public Schools officials, arguing primarily that the Board rushed a vote on the issue and failed to follow its proscribed process for accepting public comments on the name change.

News

Election Officials Report Robust Turnout, Long Lines at Polling Places Around the County

By Alex Koma

Published November 6, 2018 at 1:45PM | Updated November 6, 2018 at 3:48PM

Voters head to the polls at the Madison Community Center.

(Updated at 3:20 p.m.) Voting is in full swing around Arlington for the midterm elections, and election officials are reporting plenty of lines and enthusiasm at polling places around the county.

As of noon, the county’s election office reported seeing 40 percent of its just over 149,000 registered voters cast ballots. That figure includes only in-person voting today, according to general registrar Linda Lindberg.

Schools

Superintendent Sends New Boundary Proposal to School Board, Leaving Abingdon Unchanged

By Alex Koma

Published November 6, 2018 at 9:45AM

Superintendent Patrick Murphy has revealed his final proposal for new elementary school boundaries to forward along to the School Board, with a new map designed to simultaneously the answer the concerns of some Fairlington parents and reduce overcrowding at Barcroft Elementary.

Arlington Public Schools officials have spent months drawing up map after map to guide attendance boundaries at eight South Arlington elementary schools set to go into effect next fall. Each one has prompted fresh rounds of concern among parents nervous about seeing their kids moved to different schools, as the school system prepares to open up the new Alice West Fleet Elementary next year.

News

W-L Name Change Opponents Chip in Thousands to Clement’s Long-Shot School Board Bid

By Alex Koma

Published November 5, 2018 at 10:45AM

Opponents of the Arlington School Board’s decision to change the name of Washington-Lee High School have now poured thousands of dollars into Audrey Clement’s independent bid to unseat incumbent Board member Barbara Kanninen, providing the perennial candidate with her largest fundraising haul across any of her eight bids for local office.

Clement managed to raise just over $13,300 over the month of October alone, according to campaign finance documents, far outpacing Kanninen’s $4,200 raised over the same time period. Of that amount, nearly $10,200 came from two outspoken opponents of the Board’s vote in June to strip Confederate general Robert E. Lee’s name from the school.

News

Candidate Essay: Barbara Kanninen

By ARLnow.com

Published November 1, 2018 at 1:45PM

Here is the unedited response from Barbara Kanninen, who has been endorsed by county Democrats in the nonpartisan race:

I’m Barbara Kanninen, and I’m running for re-election to the Arlington School Board. I’m seeking your vote so we can keep working together to support the whole child, support teachers and staff, and build a stronger school system that will provide a 21st-century education to all of our students.

News

Candidate Essay: Audrey Clement

By ARLnow.com

Published November 1, 2018 at 1:15PM | Updated November 1, 2018 at 2:00PM

Independent County Board candidate Audrey Clement (2015 file photo)

Here is the unedited response from independent Audrey Clement:

I’m Audrey Clement, the Independent candidate for Arlington School Board. As a 14-year Westover resident and civic activist-with a Ph.D. in Political Science and service as a Congressional Fellow-I’m running for School Board, because the County faces several crises that Arlington Public Schools (APS) has failed to address. These include:

Schools

APS Proposes New Boundary Map to Keep Fairlington Students at Abingdon, Though Concerns Linger

By Alex Koma

Published October 30, 2018 at 9:45AM

Arlington school officials are proposing a new boundary map that would keep South Fairlington students at Abingdon Elementary, answering the concerns of parents there who worried the school system’s process of drawing new attendance lines would break up the community.

The school system has wrestled for months now with the thorny question of how to best tinker with the boundaries for eight South Arlington elementary schools, in order to address overcrowding concerns and prepare for the opening of Alice West Fleet Elementary next fall. Previous proposals for new maps initially irked parents at the Drew Model School, prompting Arlington Public Schools officials to propose an option moving some students in Fairlington neighborhoods from Abingdon to Drew to help address those worries.