Staff Presents Superintendent’s Draft 2020-21 School Year Calendar

School Board Approves Executive Leadership Team Appointments, Directors of Special Education

Staff presented the proposed calendar for the 2020-21 school year at the Jan. 23 School Board meeting. During the presentation, staff highlighted the requirements and considerations that factored into drafting the proposed calendar, and reviewed the input received from staff, families and the community on the three options presented in the community calendar survey.

Based on the input received, staff presented the Superintendent’s recommendation which includes a pre-Labor Day start to the school year with a 10-day winter break and June 16 and 18 as the last days of school. The proposed calendar includes the following dates:

• 24-28 – Pre-Service Week for teachers and 10-month employees
• 31 – First Day of School
• 1 – First Day of School for PreK
• 4-7 – Labor Day Break
• 22-23 – Fall Elementary/Middle School Parent-Teacher Conferences
• 21-Jan. 1- Winter Break
• 25-26 – Spring Elementary/Middle School Parent-Teacher Conferences
• June 16 – Last Day of High School
• June 18 – High School Graduation
• June 18 – Last Day of Elementary and Middle School

The full presentation on the 2020-21 school year calendar is available online.

APPOINTMENTS:
The Board appointed Catherine Ashby as Assistant Superintendent of School and Community Relations and Dan Redding as Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources. Both Ashby and Redding previously were interim assistant superintendents.The Board also appointed Kelly Krug as Interim Director of Elementary Special Education and Heather Rothenbuescher as Interim Director of Secondary Special Education. Krug is currently the supervisor of the Arlington Tiered System of Supports (ATSS) and Rothenbuescher is the special education supervisor.All four appointments are effective immediately.

MONITORING:
Staff presented an update on student rights, discipline and the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between APS and the Arlington County Police Department. Staff highlighted the MOU between APS and the ACPD and the Know Your Rights Campaign as well as collaboration and communication with the School Resource Officers.Staff also provided data on suspensions, law enforcement notifications and juvenile arrests. The report also included steps for moving forward. The full report is available on BoardDocs.

RECOGNITIONS
The Board began the meeting by recognizing the winners of the 2020 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Literary and Visual Arts Contest winners.

NEXT SCHOOL BOARD MEETING:
There is a Public Hearing on the Superintendent’s recommendation for school moves as part of the Elementary School Planning Process for 2021-22 on Jan. 30 beginning at 7 p.m. The School Board will hold its next Regular Meeting (2110 Washington Blvd.) on Thu, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. The agenda will be posted one week before the meeting on BoardDocs.

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. 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 will be posted to the website at aps2016.apsva.us/schoolboard upon School Board approval at a subsequent meeting.