School Board Discusses Summer School Fees, CIP Framework

Middle and High School Programs of Studies Adopted
Middle School Boundaries Recommendation Update Presented

The School Board discussed proposed Summer School fees for 2018 at their Nov. 30 meeting. The report provided background on the Summer School program as well as expenditures and associated costs, revenue, and comparisons with other districts.

Staff detailed cost efficiency options for Summer School 2018 which include:

• Providing transportation hubs to consolidate routes for all students or just secondary students
• Consolidating staffing (elementary)
• Reducing contract services for instructional programs
• Piloting online registration for enrichment programs

The proposed registration fees for elementary, middle and high school strengthening classes will remain the same as last year. The full fee for strengthen classes will be $100 and the reduced fee for qualifying families will be $56 per class.Staff is also proposing that registration and tuition for enrichment courses, the Outdoor Lab, high school new work for credit, W-L Intro to Advanced Courses and the Wakefield AP Summer Bridge Program will remain the same as last year.

To see the full report, visit BoardDocs. 

INFORMATION ITEMS:

• 2019-28 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Framework – The Board discussed the proposed framework for the 2019-28 CIP. The proposed framework includes the Career Center; Education Center; the new elementary school at the Reed Building; identifying options for additional elementary and middle school seats; identifying future capital needs and funding Minor Construction/Major Maintenance. The full presentation is available online.
• Change Order for Architecture and Engineering Services at the Career Center – Staff requested an individual change order of $155,030 for interior renovations needed to accommodate the increased enrollment for the Arlington Tech program in September 2018. Funding for the project was approved as part of the FY 2017-26 CIP to bring seating capacity in Arlington Tech up to 600 students. This Change Order does not exceed the project budget. More information on this item is available on BoardDocs.

MONITORING ITEM:

• Superintendent’s 2017-18 Action Plan Update – Dr. Murphy brought the Board up to date about the efforts underway on the action plan to support the Board’s work this year.
  • Acceptable Use: Community Input is currently being accepted until 11:59 p.m. on Fri, Dec. 1. A draft staff policy is expected the week of Dec. 4.
  • School/Facility Naming Policy Criteria: Student and community focus groups were held earlier this week, and additional community focus groups will be held on Sat, Dec. 2 (10 and 11 a.m. and 2pm). If interested, the community is asked to sign up.
  • Middle School Boundaries: Staff presented a brief update to the middle school boundaries recommendation, which was followed by a public hearing. The School Board is expected to make a decision at the next meeting on Dec. 14.
  • FY19 Budget: The Arlington Civic Federation is hosting a discussion on the FY 2019 budget with the Superintendent and County Manager on Dec. 5. The meeting will be livestreamed.

APPOINTMENTS:
The Board appointed Heather Rothenbuescher as the Supervisor of Special Education. Rothenbuescher is currently the Instructional and Behavioral Specialist with Alexandria City Public Schools.

The Board also appointed Kathleen McSweeney as Chair of the Career Center Working Group.

RECOGNITION:
The Board recognized winners of the recent Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA) awards. Career Center students placed first in the 2017 VSBA Contest. APS was also recognized in the VSBA Green Schools Challenge and the 2017 Exhibitions of School Architecture contest.

Next School Board Meeting: 
The next School Board meeting will be held on Thu, Dec. 14 at 6:30 p.m. The agenda will be posted one week before the meeting on BoardDocs.

For More Information
Citizens who want to comment on any of the items discussed at the School Board meeting should email the Board at school.board@apsva.us or call 703-228-6015. Citizens may call 703-228-2400 on the Monday after the School Board meetings to listen to a meeting summary. School Board meetings are also broadcast live on Comcast Cable Channel 70 and Verizon FiOS Channel 41; live-streamed on the APS website, and re-broadcast on Fridays at 9 p.m. and Mondays at 7:30 p.m. immediately following the meeting. All materials and minutes of the meeting will be posted to the website at aps2016.apsva.us/schoolboard upon School Board approval at a subsequent meeting.