Cristina Diaz-Torres selected as vice-chair
Today, the Arlington School Board held its annual organizational meeting for the 2022-23 school year and elected Reid Goldstein as Chair and Cristina Diaz-Torres as Vice-Chair. The terms for the new Chair and Vice-Chair begin immediately and will continue until June 30, 2023.
“We are at a unique time,” said Goldstien. “I am optimistic that we are heading into a school year without the threat to significant public health and absenteeism brought on by another pandemic variant. We always need to be alert to be safe, but I believe we can look forward to a school year whose public health profile is truly post-pandemic.”
In his remarks, Goldstein talked about enrollment and improving older facilities. “At the same time, we are projecting only a modest enrollment increase over the next 10 years. Instead of playing catch-up to build seats, as we have in most of the last decade, we can turn our capital improvement resources to renewing and refurbishing existing older facilities, some of which are near, or beyond, their useful physical life.”
Goldstein talked about the need to make the best of our unique situation of navigating-post pandemic life, low enrollment growth and rising revenues, while attracting high-quality staff, rallying around the Superintendent’s vision rooted in the Strategic Plan and assuring the community that we will follow through with the visions for the school system’s future. “How? By building community trust. By looking forward. By saying, Yes, we can. Yes, we will. Yes, change will lead to improvement. Yes, I can contribute.”
“Navigating the mission of a school system is always filled with challenges in a world of rapidly changing student social, emotional, and mental health pressures; new technologies; political uncertainties; staff shortages; public health threats; and emerging instructional methodologies,” Goldstein added. “We know our challenges. We want to collaborate with everyone in the school community. I invite the community along to collaborate – to contribute – to contribute to our APS mission – bringing it to a higher level of effectiveness, and in the process, bringing our community to a higher level of desirability.”
He finished by asking the community to contribute by joining your school’s PTA, volunteer in a classroom, or by joining a School Board or Superintendent’s Advisory Committee. Goldstein’s full remarks can be found here.
About Reid Goldstein
Reid Goldstein joined the School Board on Jan. 1, 2016. He has lived in Arlington for over 30 years and has two daughters who graduated from APS. Goldstein has an extensive record of advocacy and volunteerism for his neighborhood, APS and the greater Arlington community. Prior to his election to the School Board, he served on the Advisory Council on Instruction, Superintendent’s Strategic Planning Committee, County Council of PTAs, Chair of the H-B Woodlawn Parent Advisory Committee, Arlington Civic Federation Schools Committee, and was an active member of the parent-teacher organizations in all his children’s schools.
About Vice Chair Cristina Dias-Torres
Cristina Diaz-Torres joined the school board on January 1, 2021. She is a former teacher and education policy specialist with experience in the classroom, who gets the data, and who believes every student has a right to succeed. She is a longtime advocate for students in Arlington and has previously served on several key Arlington School Board and County Board commissions. Cristina is a proud, bilingual and bi-cultural Latina born in Boston and raised between New England and her family’s native San Juan, Puerto Rico. Before being elected to the School Board, Cristina was a preschool assistant teacher in New York City and a high school math teacher in Las Vegas, where she experienced firsthand how policy plays out in schools. She later became an education policy consultant supporting school districts, state education agencies, and education organizations across the country to improve student outcomes by creating evidence-based systems and policies. Now, Cristina works at a leadership development organization, helping civic and elected leaders eradicate educational inequities across the country.
Next School Board Meeting:
The School Board will hold its next Regular Meeting (2110 Washington Blvd.) on Thu, July 19 at 7 p.m. The agenda will be posted one week before the meeting on BoardDocs.
For More Information:
Community members 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. Community members 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.
