School Board Receives Career Center Renovation and Expansion Update

At last night’s School Board meeting, APS staff presented an update on the renovation and expansion of the Arlington Career Center to address growing student enrollment and the Arlington Tech program. The presentation included the following:

• Update on renovations completed for the expansion of Arlington Tech to date, as part of the 2016 and 2018 Capital Improvement Plans (CIPs) and use of the available bond funding;
• Overview of adjusted renovation plans for Summer 2019;
• Summary of the APS collaboration with Arlington County to address growing enrollment space needs and library services;
• Plans for a BLPC to be appointed in the fall to develop a long-range plan for the site, including use of the remaining bond funds, and to inform development of plans for the Career Center in next CIP which will be developed in Spring 2020.

The full presentation is available on BoardDocs.The School Board also received an external report on APS diversity infrastructure, conducted by George Mason University’s Vice President for Compliance Diversity and Ethics, Julian Williams. The review was conducted to evaluate the diversity infrastructure within APS and identify opportunities to enhance policies and procedures, professional development and community engagement efforts. Williams presented an executive summary of the report and recommendations, available on BoardDocs.

INFORMATION ITEMS: Presentations were provided on the following items, including several Facilities and Operations contracts related to growth initiatives and new school openings:

• Change Order for Architecture and Engineering Services at the Career Center
• Determination to Use Construction Management at-Risk Delivery Method for Career Center Project
• Furniture Procurement for 2019 School Openings
• Drew Elementary Refresh Construction Contract Award and Project Budget
• Henry Elementary Refresh Construction Contract Award and Project Budget
• Access Easement for Dominion Energy at Fleet Elementary School

 Information on all items is available on BoardDocs.

RECOGNITIONS:

• Virginia Delegate Patrick Hope presented an official resolution honoring Tim Cotman, Jefferson Middle School Equity and Excellence Coordinator, for winning the 2019 Region 4 Teacher of the Year award.
• Washington-Lee High School junior, Erika Garcia, was recognized for winning the 2019 Strong Men & Women in Virginia History Essay contest for the Northern Region. A representative from Dominion Virginia Power, the contest cosponsor, presented Erika the award for her essay on equality.
• In celebration of March is Arts in the Schools Month, Yorktown High School students reprised a portion of their performance from the school’s December production of the musical Mama Mia, which was an incredible success.

NEXT SCHOOL BOARD MEETING: The School Board will hold its next Regular Meeting (2110 Washington Blvd.) on Thu, March 28 at 7 p.m. The agenda will be posted one week before the meeting on BoardDocs.

UPCOMING BUDGET WORK SESSIONS:Several upcoming work sessions to discuss the FY 2020 budget are scheduled in March, April and May, and will be livestreamed online. The next sessions are March 19 and 26. The full schedule including County Budget Dates are available on the APS Budget & Finance webpage.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Citizens who want to comment on any items discussed at the School Board meeting should email the Board at school.board@apsva.us or call 703-228-6015. School Board meetings are 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 will be posted to the website upon School Board approval at a subsequent meeting.