Engage Update Oct. 28, 2021

Join the School Board Meeting Tonight at 7 p.m.

At tonight’s School Board Meeting, the School Board will take action on the School Board Direction on the Superintendent’s Proposed FY 2023-32 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and the Amazon AWS Think Big Space at Wakefield High School. The Education Center Reuse Change Construction Manager Advisor Contract will be presented as an information item and the Operation Efficiencies Update will be presented as a monitoring item. The full agenda is available online. School Board meetings can be viewed live online, on Comcast Cable Channel 70, or Verizon FiOS Channel 41. 

Fall 2021 Boundary Process Update

The Fall 2021 Boundary Process is limited in scope and is focused on boundary refinements to provide enrollment relief to three schools for the 2022-23 school year. The three schools that will receive relief from the boundary refinements are Abingdon Elementary School, Gunston Middle School, and Wakefield High School. The boundary process will bring enrollment at these three schools to more manageable levels for the 2022-23 school year by reassigning some planning units from Abingdon to Dr. Charles R. Drew, Gunston to Jefferson, and Wakefield to Washington-Liberty.

The community is invited to provide feedback on the boundary process by emailing engage@apsva.us. All emails sent to Engage with APS! are shared with staff for review and consideration. The feedback received from the community will be used to refine the proposals presented to the School Board at the work session on November 3. The School Board will have a public hearing on the Fall 2021 Boundary Process on November 30 and will act on the Superintendent’s Proposed Boundary Adjustments for the 2022-23 School Year at the Dec. 2, 2021 meeting.

The recordings and presentations from the Fall 2021 Boundary Process Community Meetings are currently available online. Information on the proposals and FAQs are available on the Fall 2021 Boundary Process webpage.

APS & ACPD Memorandum of Understanding Development Process

APS is currently reviewing and updating the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Arlington County Police Department. The purpose of the MOU Development Process is to redefine and reimagine the relationship between APS and ACPD. The new MOU is currently being developed based on the recommendations from the SRO Work Group this past spring. Ultimately, the completed MOU will clearly define the roles, responsibilities, and expectations of both APS and ACPD. The date the final draft of the MOU will be posted online for review has changed to Monday, November 8, 2021. The date was changed due to the focus groups being rescheduled and the survey deadline being extended. This change allows the feedback provided by the community to be incorporated into the MOU before it is shared with the community for public comment. The following is the MOU Development Process Timeline:

• The MOU development work began on August 30​, 2021
• The final draft of the MOU will be posted for review on November 8, 2021.
• The community will have a 15-day public comment period until Nov. 23 to provide feedback on the final draft of the MOU.
• The final version of the MOU will be presented as a monitoring item at the December 2, 2021 School Board Meeting.

For additional information on the MOU Development Process, please visit the APS and School Resource Officers section on the Engage webpage.

Dual Language Immersion Program Elementary Feeder School Structure Review Process

The Elementary Feeder School Structure Committee is currently reviewing the elementary immersion feeder schools that have been in place since Claremont Elementary School opened in 2003. In fall 2021, Escuela Key opened in its new location, inside the Ashlawn Elementary School boundary. Staff proposed making minimal changes to the Immersion Elementary feeder structure for 2021-22 given the impact of the pandemic on families and to allow time for the Dual Language Immersion Visioning Task Force leading the immersion visioning process to provide a recommendation on the program model.

Currently, the Immersion Elementary Feeder School Structure Committee is gathering feedback from the community as they prepare their final recommendation​. The recommendation from the committee will be considered by a cross-departmental team of APS Central Office staff, who will make a recommendation to the Superintendent. Staff will present the proposal at the School Board Work Session on November 3, 2021 and the discussion will help shape the Superintendent’s final proposal. The timeline and additional information on the process is available online.

2022-23 School Year Calendar Survey Reminder

APS is seeking input from students, staff, families, and community members related to the development of the 2022-23 School Year Calendar. The calendar survey is available to be completed online until tomorrow, Oct. 29, 2021. There are two calendar options available for the community to review. Both calendar options have a school start date prior to Labor Day and include a two-week winter break. The School Board is tentatively scheduled to act on the 2022-23 School Year Calendar at the December 16, 2021 School Board Meeting. For additional information on the 2022-23 School year Calendar or to complete the calendar survey, visit the Development of the 2022-23 School Year Calendar webpage.

Upcoming Events:

• October 28 – School Board Meeting
• November 1 – High School Information Night (Virtual)
• November 3 – School Board Work Session on the Proposed Boundary Adjustments for the 2022-23 School Year