Schools

Arlington Public Schools’ recent decision to stop posting on the social-media platform X is getting some scrutiny from a School Board member.

Miranda Turner at the Feb. 27 Board meeting sought clarification of the reasons behind leaving the platform — formerly Twitter — and the 21,000 people who followed APS’s main X account (among smaller school-level accounts).


Schools

Advocates are speaking out against potential cuts to programs and personnel as Arlington Public Schools staff finalize a budget draft.

“[Stop] all the wasteful spending. We’ve got to cut stuff, not staff,” said Melissa Hyatt, an instructional technology coordinator (ITC) at Innovation Elementary School, during the Thursday night (Feb. 27) School Board meeting.


Schools

Arlington school leaders are making strides in reducing chronic student absenteeism, but the results have been uneven.

Twenty-eight county schools showed year-over-year declines in chronic-absentee rates in the second quarter of 2024-25. But 11 posted an increase, Superintendent Francisco Durán told School Board members last week.


News

Ongoing challenges for political candidates and elected officials of color were the topic of a recent discussion with several local leaders.

Representatives of minority groups who make it onto the ballot and into office too often are looked on as “representational symbols,” said Christian Dorsey, a former two-term Arlington County Board member.


Schools

A major policy shift by the Virginia High School League (VHSL) could impact how Arlington Public Schools approaches transgender athletes.

VHSL announced this week that it will follow an executive order from President Donald Trump that attempts to ban students born male from competing on girls teams, threatening financial sanctions if schools don’t comply.


News

Arlington Democrats now have two candidates vying for an open School Board seat.

Monique “Moe” Bryant and June Prakash formally kicked off campaigns Wednesday night (Feb. 5) at the monthly Arlington County Democratic Committee meeting.


Schools

Arlington Public Schools leaders are trying to ensure families continue to feel safe following immigration enforcement changes under President Donald Trump.

The school system has rolled out additional trainings for school administrators and staff and launched a new webpage with immigration resources for families, Superintendent Francisco Durán announced yesterday (Thursday).


News

After nearly three decades in elected office, former County Board member Libby Garvey plans to remain active in Arlington civic life.

Garvey, who ended more than a dozen years on the County Board on Dec. 31, plans to continue publishing her civic newsletters while working to become a clearinghouse for thought-provoking political conversation at the local and national level.


Schools

Subpar results from remedial summer-school programming at Arlington Public Schools have left leaders in search of new strategies.

“We weren’t seeing significant [academic] growth,” Superintendent Francisco Durán said during a program recap at the Jan. 16 School Board meeting.


Schools

Stressful relations with former colleagues and the challenges of spring campaigning are among the reasons the Arlington School Board’s chair says she isn’t seeking another term.

“If I didn’t love the work so much, then the toxicity aimed at me, personally, from some of my former colleagues would have driven me out the door already,” Kadera told members of the Arlington County Democratic Committee on Wednesday (Dec. 8) as she announced she won’t be running for re-election this year.


Schools

It’s been the practice for some years, but now peanuts and their derivatives are formally banished from food served in Arlington public-school cafeterias.

Cafeterias now must “provide exclusively peanut-free food,” an Arlington Public Schools policy implementation procedure (PIP) mandates.


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