(Updated 2/19) Advocates are calling for Arlington County to invest $2 million in additional programs to stop students from dying of drug overdoses.
The mother of an Arlington ninth grader who died of an apparent fentanyl overdose in September joined over 250 others on Wednesday to demand additional funding for free after-school programs. Organizers say a scarcity of accessible, interesting programming makes students more likely to fall into drug addiction.
School Board watchdog group Arlington Parents for Education (APE) is asking the auditor for Arlington Public Schools to dive into the potential impacts of an increase in paid holidays for year-round staff.
Two school years ago, new religious and cultural holidays were added to the calendar and Supt. Francisco Durán announced APS would fully close for winter and spring breaks. APE said in a new letter to the auditor that this decision could cost millions and may hurt morale of 10-month employees, who are not paid for these days off.
Arlington police have charged a former Washington-Liberty High School basketball coach with sexual offenses and are seeking possible additional victims.
George Porcha, 53, of Winterville, North Carolina, is charged with carnal knowledge of a minor and taking indecent liberties with children, per an Arlington County Police Department press release sent out this evening (Tuesday).
(Updated at 3:20 p.m.) Starting this month, Arlington students can now get free Metrobus rides throughout Arlington.
This builds on a program in place since 2022 allowing students with iRide SmarTrip card to ride Arlington Transit (ART) buses for free. Students who live in Arlington and are enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade can obtain these cards from Commuter Stores in Arlington or, if they are APS students, through their schools.
Arlington Public Schools has preemptively given students a snow day and an effective three day weekend due to expected accumulating snowfall tomorrow.
APS made the announcement just before 6 p.m., with several inches of snow in the forecast for Friday. Neighboring Alexandria and Fairfax County also announced Friday closures.
After a snow day today, Arlington students will be going back to school on Wednesday — but on a two-hour delay.
Arlington Public Schools made the following announcement at 6 p.m.
(Updated at midnight) There will be no classes for Arlington Public Schools students Tuesday.
The snow day means at least a four-day weekend for students, when combined with today’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. APS made the announcement around 6 p.m.
(Updated at 4:55 p.m.) Arlington Public Schools experienced a data breach this week affecting information it collects for visitors to school buildings.
The school system notified people of “externally exposed” data in a message sent this afternoon (Friday). The breach is part of a broader leak, reported this morning, affecting some schools in the U.S. that, like APS, use a visitor management system from Raptor Technologies.
(Updated at 4:45 p.m.) A “mob” of seven boys is facing serious charges after allegedly attacking another teen at Washington-Liberty High School.
The fight happened around 3:15 p.m. — five minutes after school dismissal — on Tuesday but police were not called until an hour later. A tipster tells ARLnow that it took place inside the school.
There was another possible overdose at Wakefield High School last week.
Around 1:20 p.m., medics were dispatched to Wakefield for a report of an unconscious person, according to Arlington County Fire Department spokesman Capt. Nate Hiner.
Arlington School Board Vice Chair David Priddy says he will not be seeking another term.
He was elected in 2020 along with Cristina Diaz-Torres, who currently serves as the School Board Chair and last month announced that she too would step down after one term. Both of their terms expire at the end of this year, meaning two seats are up for election this year.
