School Board Discusses 2019-28 Arlington Facilities and Student Accommodation Plan

New Drew Principal Appointed

This year’s School Board discussion on the 2019-28 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) started at last night’s meeting with a monitoring report on Arlington Facilities and Student Accommodation Plan (AFSAP). The AFSAP provides a comprehensive look at the APS student enrollment and building capacity and will be used to provide APS staff with data to make decisions about APS facilities and programs and the next CIP.The report also highlights enrollment projections and potential projects for the 2019-28 CIP which will be developed this spring. More details can be found online.

APPOINTMENTS
The School Board appointed Kimberly Graves as the new principal Drew Model School. Her appointment begins July 1, 2018.The Board also appointed Wendy Pilch as the interim director of Early Childhood and Elementary Education from July 1-June 30, 2019.

SCHOOL BOARD STATEMENT
During last night’s meeting, the School Board released a statement on the recent tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida and on school safety. Click here to read the full statement.

CONSENT ITEMS:
The School Board approved the following items as part of the Consent Agenda:

• Final Design for Yorktown Internal Modifications
• Randolph Window Replacement Phase 2 Contract Award
• Determination to use Construction Management at Risk Delivery Method for the Education Center Renovation
• Contract Amendment for Construction Management Advisor (CMA) Services for the Abingdon Project
• Appointment to Advisory Committee on Transportation Choices

More information on these items can be found on BoardDocs.

MONITORING ITEMS

• Superintendent’s 2017-18 Action Plan Update – Murphy updated the Board on other efforts underway on the action plan to support the Board’s work this year.
  • Inclusion: Staff will work with the 2018-24 Strategic Plan Steering Committee to determine areas of focus related to inclusion. There will be community engagement opportunities in April around Strategic Plan elementary.
  • Elementary School Planning Initiative – There are two community engagement opportunities:
    • Elementary School Location Review—March 9 deadline; and
    • Elementary School Walk Zone Review—March 12 is the first deadline and March 19 is the last deadline.

Staff also will host “What We Heard on Walk Zone Review” School Task Group Working Sessions later in March

• Reed Building Update – The Reed Concept Design, which was originally scheduled to be presented as an information item at tonight’s School Board meeting, has been delayed to allow more time for review and consideration by members of the Building Level Planning Committee (BLPC), the Public Facilities Review Committee (PFRC) and members of the community. Read the full update here.
• FY19 Budget – Two School Board Work Sessions are scheduled for March 13 and 15 and a public hearing is scheduled on March 22.

The public is invited to learn more, ask questions or comment on any of the action plan engagement initiatives that are underway by visiting aps2016.apsva.us/engage.

• School Health Advisory Board Update – The School Health Advisory Board (SHAB) assists the School Board and APS Executive Leadership Team (ELT) with the development of health policies in Arlington Public Schools and evaluates the status of school health, health education, the school environment and health services as described in the Code of Virginia. The full report is available online.

INFORMATION ITEMS

• Wakefield High School Upgrade and Reconfiguration of Chemical Safety Devices – Staff asked the Board to repurpose Wakefield Expansion Project funds to upgrade and reconfigure safety devices that serve all the custodial closets and science rooms. More information is on BoardDocs.
• Temporary License Agreement for Fleet Parking at Jefferson – Staff presented a proposed License Agreement for temporary, non-exclusive use of a portion of Arlington County property for Jefferson Middle School to use as a temporary bus drop-off/pick-up area and for staff and visitor parking. This agreement will enable APS buses adequate space to accommodate 12 buses for morning and afternoon operations without blocking entry to the parking lot entry on South 2nd Street. This agreement also maintains Jefferson staff parking in six (6) spaces at the Loading Dock and four (4) spaces at the 2nd Street South and S. Old Glebe Road parking lot. In addition, 50 spaces in the County’s Tennis Court Parking lot will be used for Jefferson general parking and as a parent drop-off/pickup zone for students.

RECOGNITIONS
To open the meeting the Yorktown Jazz Ensemble performed to celebrate Arts in the Schools month. The School Board also recognized Tom Bolles of Washington-Lee; Maddy Heinemann of Yorktown and Amy Kohan of Wakefield who were finalists in the Arlington County Decal Contest.

Next School Board Meeting 
The next School Board meeting will be held on Thu, March 22 at 6 p.m. to accommodate the Service Awards and the Public Hearing on the Superintendent’s Proposed FY19 Budget. 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.