Arlington School Board members for six months have promised a new approach to tackling the school system’s budget-development process.
Those assurances are about to be put to the test.
School Board
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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.
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).
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.
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.
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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.
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.
Next year’s Arlington 8th-graders with a passion for geography won’t have the chance to take intensified coursework in the subject.
But those arriving after the 2025-26 school year likely will.
With the holiday season coming to a close, Arlington’s main political parties already are focusing on another election season.
And the cash that will be required to compete in it.
County school leaders, both elected and staff, will be presenting a united front as the fiscal 2026 budget season fast approaches.
In a change from typical practice, the Arlington School Board and superintendent will present a joint budget in mid-March, Board members decided Dec. 12.
Falls Church school leaders are planning to add a modest number of items to the system’s updated 2026-31 capital-improvement program.
And nearly already have funding sources available, School Board members were told on Dec. 10.
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Distilling the essence of Libby Garvey’s 28 years in Arlington public life would have required far longer than the 75 minutes allotted at the Tuesday (Dec. 17) County Board meeting.
But a number of local civic and political leaders gave it their best shot.