Enrollment & Transfer Policy Revision Update Presented and Public Hearing Held

3-5 Year Plan Update Includes Status of New High School Options
Community Conversation about 1:1 Devices Scheduled for May 30
Principals for Barcroft Elementary and Yorktown High Schools Named

At the School Board meeting on May 18, staff presented a summary of the School Board’s changes for the proposed revisions to the School Board Policy 25-2.2 Enrollment and Transfers for Schools and Programs. The revisions are a result of the School Board’s recent review and work session about the policy. Highlights of the School Board’s revisions to the policy include the following:

• Preschool is now included in the policy to align with the PIP, offering preschool at each elementary option school/program.
• Enrollment at option schools/programs will be adjusted as needed.
• Siblings concurrently enrolled can receive priority in admissions to Option schools/programs. This revision will adjust the enrollment to accommodate siblings in addition to the existing number of lottery slots
• Admitted or transfer students will continue enrollment through grade levels in schools/programs to which they have been admitted.
• The Superintendent will provide an Annual Fall Update to the Board on enrollment levels and transportation at each school/program, with recommendations to achieve policy goals and address concerns.
• Appeals may be made to the Superintendent and School Board in writing.

A public hearing was held immediately following the update to allow members of the community to share their thoughts on the revisions. The Board is scheduled to adopt the revisions to the policy at the next School Board meeting on June 1. The full update and is available online.

3-5 YEAR PLAN UPDATE:
The Superintendent provided a progress report on the APS 3-5 Year Plan, and a brief update on the options being considered for adding 1,300 high school seats. Three sites are proposed, including a new building at the Education Center site, a new building adjacent to Kenmore Middle School, and an expansion of the Career Center. A fourth option has been added, through a hybrid plan that increases high school capacity through renovations at both the Education Center and the Career Center.

Gallery Walks are scheduled at all three sites for the public to review the proposals along with the detailed analysis for each option. The Superintendent’s recommendation for a new high school site will be presented at the School Board meeting on June 1, and a public hearing will be held on June 15. The School Board is expected to make a decision at its meeting on June 29. For more information or to get engaged in the process, visit https://apsva.us/instruction/new-high-school.

A Community Conversation on the 1:1 Devices Initiative will be held on Tue, May 30. The Department of Instruction encourages families to review the online parent resources and to share their questions or suggestions at the meeting on May 30, beginning at 7 p.m. at Wakefield High School. Families who cannot attend the meeting can share their comments on the “Engage with APS” feedback form at aps2016.apsva.us/engage.

The full presentation for the update on the APS 3-5 Year Plan is available online. 

OTHER MONITORING ITEM:
Literacy Update – Staff presented a progress report on student literacy. The major goal of the work is to ensure that by June 2019, 100% of students are reading on grade level or have made at least one year’s worth of growth in reading. Measures of success will be obtained through several measures including the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS), Reading Inventory, Standards of Learning (SOL), and WIDA Access (for English learners). Staff highlighted positive trends in SOL data, benchmarked progress with other area districts, and shared student performance on PALS. They outlined action steps that support current goals, and laid out the next steps to ensure continued progress. The full presentation is available in BoardDocs. 

INFORMATION ITEMS:
Revision of School Board Policy 20-1.210 Award of Credit, Non-Core Courses – Staff proposed a revision that aligns with current Virginia Department of Education VDOE guidance. VDOE guidance now permits the awarding of standard credit without 140 clock hours for work equal to the progress and learning achieved in 140 clock hours of instruction when certain criteria are met. Detailed revisions are available in BoardDocs.
FY 17 3rd Quarter Fiscal Report – Staff presented a review of the FY 17 operating budget at the end of the third quarter, which concluded with $4.5 million available in net funds. Staff recommended that the Board allocate $1 million to the compensation reserve fund and reallocate $1.2 million to other existing needs in the FY 17 budget. If approved, the FY 17 projected year-end balance would be $2.3 million. Staff also updated the Board on the Capital Improvement Program Budget, including both major construction and minor maintenance expenditures. Funding in the Capital Reserve is $19.7 million, after the allocation of $10 million for space conversion projects at Gunston and Kenmore Middle Schools, and Wakefield and Yorktown High Schools. Presentations and additional information are available in BoardDocs. 

ACTION ITEM:
Special Education Annual Plan – The Board approved the Special Education Annual Plan, which is required by the Virginia Department of Education to provide detailed information about how federal entitlement funds are spent. The full presentation that explains how funds are allocated for staff and what services are delivered to students with disabilities is available in BoardDocs. 

APPOINTMENTS:The School Board approved two administrative transfers beginning July 1, 2017:
Judy Apostolico-Buck, the current Principal at Ashlawn Elementary School, has been appointed as the new principal for Barcroft Elementary School. Apostolico-Buck is completing her 30th year with APS. She started as a student teacher at Abingdon Elementary and has been an APS educator ever since, serving as a classroom teacher, resource teacher for the gifted, Early Childhood Supervisor, Assistant Principal and as Principal at Ashlawn for the past seven years.
Bridget Loft, current Swanson Middle School Principal, has been appointed as the new principal for Yorktown High School. Loft has dedicated the last 24 years of her career as an educator working with middle and high schoolers as well as graduate students. Upon joining APS, she taught social studies for 12 years at Wakefield High School and for one year at Miami Coral Park High School in Miami, Florida. As a school administrator, she served as assistant principal at Swanson for four years and for one year at Wakefield High School before becoming Swanson principal six years ago. She also has served as an adjunct professor at George Washington University, teaching a Social Studies pedagogy course. Earlier this week, Loft was honored as the 2017 APS Principal of the Year.

RECOGNITIONS:
Prior to the start of the meeting, the School Board recognized Thomas Bolles, a Washington-Lee High School student who received the Northeast Regional Art Award from the Virginia School Boards Association. 

NEXT SCHOOL BOARD MEETING:
The next School Board meeting will be held on Thu, June 1 at 7:30 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.