School Board Approves 2018-19 Priorities and Action Plan

Celebrates ConnectArlington Successful Partnership with Arlington County for High-Speed Digital Telecommunications and Broadband Services

The School Board officially approved its priorities for the 2018-19 school year at last night’s meeting. The School Board establishes annual priorities to assist in keeping the Board’s work focused, effective and aligned with the APS Strategic Plan goals.

This year, the School Board’s priorities will focus on five areas, which are aligned with the goals of the new APS Strategic Plan for 2018-24. They include:

• New Policies & Revisions that address inclusion; transgender equality and equity; acceptable use of social media and technology; PreK programs and additional follow up on options and transfers.
• Operational Planning to adopt the 2018-24 Strategic Plan performance objectives; approve PreK-12 Instructional Program Pathways; review evaluations of the 1:1 technology initiative; approve new school names; strengthen APS safety and security; and adopt a FY 2020 budget that supports multiple pathways to success and excellence in classroom instruction.
• Preparation for New School Openings and Program Moves in 2019, including adopting new elementary school boundaries for eight schools to balance enrollment and providing resources to open, relocate or refocus five schools and programs.
• Capital Initiatives to plan for the renovation of the Ed Center and plan next steps for the Arlington Career Center based on the Career Center Working Group’s report.
• Additional Priorities in Support of the 2018-24 APS Strategic Plan, including a focus on ensuring all students make equitable progress; recruiting and nurturing diverse teachers and staff; and strengthening school, family and community relationships.

OTHER ACTION ITEM:
The Board approved the proposed revision of School Board Policy E-6 Food and Nutrition Services, and related Policy Implementation Procedures. The revision standardizes terms related to the National School Lunch Program and emphasizes language regarding student eligibility to the beginning of the policy. More information on the revised policy is available on BoardDocs. 

APPOINTMENTS:
The School Board appointed Yun-Chi (Maggie) Hsu as Assistant Principal of Wakefield High School.  

MONITORING ITEM:
Staff presented the Health and Physical Education Program Evaluation Report, which highlighted successes and key outcomes of the program; student and family feedback; and next steps to continue to improve health and PE for all students. The full report is available on BoardDocs. 

INFORMATION ITEMS:
The School Board discussed the proposed FY2020 Budget Direction. 

RECOGNITIONS:
At the start of the meeting, Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz and Jack Belcher, Chief Information Officer for the County, presented an update on ConnectArlington and recognized School Board members, administrators and staff for a successful partnership. ConnectArlington is the County’s high speed digital and telecommunications network that connects County and Schools facilities together, providing secure and cost effective Voice, Video, and Data services. Over the past year, APS transitioned 40 Arlington school facilities from a commercial provider to ConnectArlington’s high-speed, dedicated network. This latest collaboration between Arlington County and APS provides greater agility and reliability for the schools’ communications network, and will also result in future savings.

Two students from Arlington Science Focus and Abingdon Elementary gave a presentation to the School Board to update them on “Fun with Coding” and the learning experiences they had during Summer Coding Camp 2018. The students encouraged APS to continue to offer this hands on opportunities for kids to learn how to code and other fun technology and science skills.

NEXT SCHOOL BOARD MEETING:
The School Board will hold its next Regular Meeting (2110 Washington Blvd.) on Thursday, October 4 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.