APS News Release

School Board Chair Dr. Barbara Kanninen to Host Virtual Open Office Hours on Tue, Feb. 22

School Board Member Dr. Barbara Kanninen will host virtual Open Office Hours on Tue, Feb. 22 from 8:30 – 10:30 a.m.

For the 2021-22 school year, the School Board will hold Open Office Hours twice a month on Monday evenings or, due to holidays, Tuesday mornings. Open Office Hours is a forum for Board members to listen to comments and concerns, and to discuss various topics with community members. Each Board member will share what they heard during Open Office Hours with the entire Board and the Superintendent.

  • Personnel matters are confidential. Visitors are asked to respect that confidentiality; the School Board member cannot comment, nor offer their individual opinion, on such matters. This silence should not be treated as an indication of any particular position on the matter.
  • Statements that personally attack individuals or do not relate to Arlington Public Schools’ business are not appropriate for discussion. You will be asked to limit your remarks to issues that are related to Arlington Public Schools’ business.

Board members will meet individually with participants to ensure everyone has the same opportunity to share their opinions. To participate, individuals must sign up ahead of time using the SignUpGenius link below and select a time slot for an individual meeting. The sign-up link will be available until 3 p.m. on February 21.

Before Open Office Hours:

  • To participate in Open Office Hours on February 22 you must sign up via SignUpGenius (link removed Feb. 21 at 10:30 pm)
  • There are 12 individual slots to accommodate participants during the Open Office Hours timeframe
  • If several community members are interested in speaking about the same topic, please sign up at the link above and send an email to school.board@apsva.us with the list of participants so staff can send an invite to everyone in the group.
  • Staff will send an invitation for a Microsoft Teams meeting two hours before the meeting
  • For assistance using Microsoft Teams, visit https://aps2016.apsva.us/digital-learning/digital-learning-device-help/teams/

During Open Office Hours:

  • Participants will have 5 minutes to address the Board member
    • At the end of the 5 minutes, the individual meeting will end so that the Board member can move on to the next participant
  • Participants are expected to be courteous, respectful, and mindful of the 5-minute timeframe.  If a participant is disruptive, it may be necessary for the Board member to end the meeting early

After Open Office Hours:

  • Participants are welcome to share their comments in writing by sending them to board@apsva.us. A copy of the remarks will be distributed to all Board members.

​​The upcoming schedule for Open Office Hours is posted on the Open Office Hours web page. Please contact the School Board Office at 703-228-6015 or school.board@apsva.us if you have any questions.