Arlington Public Schools

H-B Woodlawn music teacher named semifinalist for Grammy educator award

By Katie Taranto

An Arlington Public Schools teacher is in the final rounds for a Grammy award honoring outstanding music educators.

Bill Podolski, the choral director at H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program, is one of 25 nationwide semifinalists for the 2026 Grammy Music Educator Award, announced last week. The accolade is bestowed on one music teacher each year who is honored during the week of the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

“I truly was pinching myself, because I just couldn’t believe it,” Podolski told ARLnow. “I felt quite proud of it … but more than that, I’m super humbled by this.”

This year’s semifinalists represent 23 localities across 14 states. A list of 10 finalists will come out next month before the winner of the 2026 Music Educator Award is announced in February.

This award is open to all music teachers in the United States, from kindergarten to collegiate level. Teachers are invited to apply after receiving a nomination from a student, colleague or community member.

Podolski is currently in his 18th year at H-B Woodlawn, where he teaches music, co-directs student musicals and leads the school’s choral program in Rosslyn. He is also an executive board member of the Virginia Choral Directors Association.

He instructs five choirs and interacts with about 130 students each day, in addition to leading initiatives like the school’s public Community Chorus. He also collaborates with APS’ Eunice Kennedy Shriver Program to include students with disabilities in every concert.

Bill Podolski and students (via Arlington Public Schools)

At the core of Podolski’s passion for music education is an “inherent joy in singing.”

“There’s almost no greater joy, no greater expression of emotions, and that feeling of goosebumps than I have felt in singing,” Podolski said. “My quest is to share that experience with as many people as possible, and especially my students.”

Podolski was initially selected in the spring as one of 200 Music Educator Award quarterfinalists from a pool of over 2,000 nominees. He was nominated by a local parent, he said.

In his Grammy application portfolio, Podolski spoke about his goal of creating classrooms that encourage students to be more autonomous.

“How can I teach music in a way that is not me teaching them, but them discovering at their own paces?” he said.

This is not the first time a Northern Virginia teacher has been up for the prestigious award. Last year’s winner, Annie Ray, is the orchestra director and performing arts department chair at Annandale High School in Fairfax County.

The 68th annual Grammy Awards will take place Feb. 1, 2026.

Photo 2 via Arlington Public Schools. 

APS promises more transparency in choosing next year’s health insurance provider

By Scott McCaffrey
AEA members protest the Kaiser contract termination during the Thursday, Oct. 12 School Board meeting (staff photo by James Jarvis)

Arlington school leaders have announced their timeline for negotiating new health-insurance agreements next year, hoping to avoid catching employees by surprise this time.

This time, school leaders are committed to “make sure everybody’s crystal clear” on the process, School Board member Mary Kadera said.

The current APS health-care contract with CareFirst runs through December 2026. Based on employee complaints about a poorly communicated switch in providers in late 2023, Superintendent Francisco Durán and staff began laying the groundwork for the upcoming process last year.

“We will continue to be transparent and keep everyone informed,” Durán said in outlining plans at a School Board meeting on Thursday.

A day earlier, the school system had issued a request for proposals from prospective health-insurance carriers. Responses are due by the end of November.

A joint task force composed of school officials and representatives from the Arlington Education Association (AEA) will then vet the submissions. They will be aided by a consultant hired by the school system.

Negotiations with health insurers will begin in the spring, with employees notified of final decisions no later than June. Impacted personnel will then have time to make coverage choices before the new insurance plans go into effect in January 2027.

Durán said it was possible the school system could go with a single provider, or split up the contract.

“It could be one, could be two, could be three,” he said.

Timeline for new health-insurance contract (via Arlington Public Schools)

AEA President June Prakash said her fingers are crossed for a good result coming out of the more transparent process.

“My hope is that employees will have a variety of comprehensive and affordable plans to choose from,” she told ARLnow.

AEA members and other school employees were caught by surprise by the switch from existing providers Kaiser Permanente and Cigna to CareFirst, announced in 2023. Concerns linger about whether the changes were in the best interests of the workforce.

“It was a major inconvenience for everyone to have to switch plans, and many employees had to terminate longstanding relationships with physicians,” Prakash said. “There are still concerns among employees about the healthcare rates, lack of availability of specialists and high medication costs.”

Kaiser Permanente had provided health-care coverage to Arlington school employees for more than three decades. For reasons that remain cloudy, the organization did not bid on the 2024-26 contract during 2023.

An internal audit conducted by the school system and released in May 2024 said turnover of key APS staff contributed to challenges during the contract-negotiation process. It also cited a lack of record-keeping within the school system’s Selection Advisory Committee, making it difficult to determine what actually transpired.

In the end, auditor Alice Blount-Fenney said Kaiser Permanente officials acknowledged they did not think the first request for proposal put out in 2023 applied to them, and somehow overlooked a second one that was sent out. The audit determined school officials had done nothing wrong by not following up to alert the health-care provider of the oversight.

“Vendors assume responsibility for any procurement related requests and responses. It is not ethically appropriate for APS to interfere with these decisions,” the audit concluded.

The school system’s cost of of medical and dental health-care premiums totaled $42.22 million in fiscal year 2025 and is expected to increase 1.6% to $49.91 million throughout FY 2026, school officials told ARLnow.

APS enrollment drops by 1.1%, leading to staffing tweaks at numerous schools

By Scott McCaffrey

A decline in year-over-year student enrollment at Arlington Public Schools has resulted in staffing adjustments at some schools.

The official APS 2025-26 student count of 27,589 is down 311 students — or 1.1% — from a year before, Superintendent Francisco Durán reported to School Board on Thursday.

The figure represents the total number of enrolled students as of Sept. 30, and was submitted to the Virginia Department of Education. By grade level, the data reflects the following fluctuations:

  • Pre-kindergarten enrollment was up 4.9% to 914
  • K-5 enrollment declined 2.6% to 12,270
  • Enrollment in grades 6-8 was up 2% to 6,205
  • Enrollment in grades 9-12 was down 1.8% to 8,200

The lower enrollment allowed the school system to reduce overall staffing by a net 17.5 full-time-equivalent positions for a savings of about $2 million compared to the adopted fiscal 2026 budget plan. Durán’s presentation did not suggest any current staff had to be laid off to accomplish the reductions.

Decisions on staffing changes were made over the summer and during the early weeks of the school year. Durán said his staff looked at class sizes on a “case-by-case, school-by-school” basis in determining where tweaks were needed, and attempted to make sure staffing levels were appropriate without the cuts being draconian.

“We wanted to leave some room” for potential student-population increases during the year, the superintendent said. “We didn’t want it to be too tight.”

While overall enrollment was down, some schools experienced increases, and in those cases, additional staffing was brought in to lower class sizes.

During the discussion, School Board member Miranda Turner praised the nimbleness of the effort, but said she hoped the process would be standardized in future years so the Board and community understand how staffing decisions are being made.

“We’re working on” more standardization, Durán said.

Budget rollout will revert to a two-step process: Having a single budget proposal from both Superintendent Durán and the School Board appears to have been a one-year experiment that is not being repeated.

As a result, the fiscal year 2027 budget process will follow earlier practices, with Durán proposing his budget in late February 2026 and the School Board following with its own budget proposal “a little bit later in the spring,” School Board Chair Bethany Zecher Sutton said at the Oct. 9 School Board meeting.

“We all look forward to working closely together throughout the budget process,” she said.

For the $845 million FY 2026 budget that was adopted in the spring, a single budget combining input from staff and Board members was presented to the public. It represented a change to longstanding practice, which traditionally saw the superintendent propose a staff budget, followed by public input, then the School Board budget proposal with more public input before final adoption.

At the Oct. 9 meeting, Board members also voted 5-0 to provide budget direction to Durán and staff for the upcoming year.

Board members also took a first look at the school system’s proposed 2026 General Assembly priority package, which seeks a variety of budget-related actions in Richmond.

The legislative package will be adopted in coming weeks. The 2026 General Assembly session is slated to start Jan. 14 and run 60 days.

Schools receive state funding for security upgrades: APS will receive $96,349 in funding as part of a $12 million statewide initiative bringing upgrades in school-security equipment to 433 schools across 99 divisions.

Funding was announced Oct. 9 by the Virginia Department of Education.

State criteria give priority to schools most in need of modern security equipment, schools with relatively high numbers of offenses, schools with equipment needs identified by a security audit, and schools in divisions least able to afford security upgrades.

Arlington schools receiving funding are:

  • Abingdon Elementary
  • Alice West Fleet Elementary
  • Arlington Science Focus School
  • Arlington Traditional
  • Barcroft Elementary
  • Barrett Elementary
  • Campbell Elementary
  • Carlin Springs Elementary
  • Escuela Key Elementary
  • Gunston Middle
  • Hoffman-Boston Elementary
  • Innovation Elementary
  • Jamestown Elementary
  • Kenmore Middle
  • Montessori Public School of Arlington
  • Tuckahoe Elementary and Wakefield High

APS staff hope new “adopt-a-school” model will improve local partnerships

By Scott McCaffrey

Arlington Public Schools leaders hope that a new “adopt-a-school” partnership model will increase schools’ formal partnerships with business and civic groups.

Noting that 30% of Arlington’s public schools have no such partnerships, APS staff outlined plans to increase opportunities for volunteerism at a School Board meeting yesterday (Thursday). They focused primarily on relationships with the business community.

Partnerships “benefit above and beyond the work we can do within our four walls,” Superintendent Francisco Durán told School Board members.

“We need support, and we’re getting that support,” he said.

There is always room for improvement, school officials acknowledged.

“The majority of schools … reported they would benefit from dedicated partners to support school facilities needs, beautification and mentoring or after-school programming, particularly for low-income students and families,” school officials learned in a survey of principals presented to School Board members.

About 60% of respondents reported being “very interested” in the adopt-a-school initiative.

Currently, businesses, nonprofits, civic groups, faith-based organizations and institutions of higher learning work with individual schools, sometimes on an ad hoc basis. The new effort aims to formalize the partnership process.

At the School Board meeting, Board member Miranda Turner said she hopes new partnerships and volunteers will also spur creative thinking to “help us take ideas and see if they are worth running with, and then running with them more quickly.”

“We certainly have lots of highly educated people who want to contribute,” she said of the local community.

The adopt-a-school effort is among several proposals coming out of a working group set up by APS in October 2024, addressing concerns that not enough is being done to connect schools with those wanting to offer support.

According to school leadership, some of the concerns raised by members of the working group were:

  • Unclear definitions on how to engage and who to contact
  • Inconsistent screening requirements for volunteers and partners
  • A lack of clarity on how to donate money or supplies
  • The need for a standardized process and agreement forms
  • Needing improvement on school and system-wide needs to guide potential donors/partners
  • The lack of a clear measurement process and rubric for gauging partnerships’ success

Nearly all APS schools — 95% — have successfully recruited volunteers that support students and teachers, according to county data.

A survey of 38 schools found that 89% use volunteers to support events; 68% for beautification and facilities upgrades; 49% for classroom support; and 32% for mentoring and tutoring.

Currently, the school system has more than 11,700 active volunteers in its database, with more than 4,000 volunteer applications approved during the 2024-25 school year. Of those in the database, only about 15% volunteer on a recurring basis, based on sign-ins to the APS volunteer-management software.

“That’s the big gap we are working toward” closing, said Catherine Ashby, the school system’s director of school and community relations.

Ashby said restructuring the school system’s administration of volunteer programs will assist efforts.

“Our team is really excited about this work,” she said.

Volunteers seem eager to help when called upon for specific initiatives. More than 190 signed up in two weeks after the school system announced a new pilot program — called Readers Rise — being launched at Barrett, Long Branch and Hoffman-Boston elementary schools.

At the meeting, School Board Chair Bethany Zecher Sutton praised all volunteer efforts as benefiting the overall learning environment.

“We’re grateful for all of the volunteers and all of the partners and all that goes into enriching student learning,” she said.

BREAKING: Police charge fmr. W-L girls basketball coach with sex crimes involving players

By Jo DeVoe
George Porcha (courtesy ACPD)

Arlington police have charged a former Washington-Liberty High School basketball coach with sexual offenses and are seeking possible additional victims.

George Porcha, 53, of Winterville, North Carolina, is charged with carnal knowledge of a minor and taking indecent liberties with children, per an Arlington County Police Department press release sent out this evening (Tuesday).

ACPD started its investigation in October 2022 after receiving information about possible offenses Porcha committed, involving minors, between 2000 and 2003, when he coached girls basketball coach at Washington-Liberty, then named Washington-Lee.

As a result of the investigation, warrants were issued this month for offenses involving two female victims who were juveniles and students at W-L at the time of the incidents, per the press release, which noted additional information is restricted following Virginia code.

During his tenure at W-L, he was the 2001 National District Coach of the Year, according to InsideNova. Porcha went on to be the head girls basketball coach at T.C. Williams High School, now Alexandria City High School, from 2004-07.

About a decade later, he coached the boys basketball team at Woodbridge High School from 2014-16 before leaving for Ole Miss, InsideNova reported at the time.

Porcha has also made the rounds coaching at colleges and universities, including Virginia Tech, West Virginia University, Ole Miss and Boston College. He was let go from Virginia Tech in the fall of 2022, per the Roanoke Times.

This remains an active criminal investigation, ACPD says. Anyone who has additional information related to this investigation or has had past inappropriate encounters with this suspect is asked to contact Detective P. Pena at 703-228-4183 or [email protected]. Information may also be provided anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).

Arlington students are now eligible for free Metrobus rides

By Savannah Taffe
An ART bus and driver (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 3:20 p.m.) Starting this month, Arlington students can now get free Metrobus rides throughout Arlington.

This builds on a program in place since 2022 allowing students with iRide SmarTrip card to ride Arlington Transit (ART) buses for free. Students who live in Arlington and are enrolled in kindergarten through 12th grade can obtain these cards from Commuter Stores in Arlington or, if they are APS students, through their schools.

Now, students with these cards will have free access to Metrobus’ greater range of service and hours, per a county press release. They will be able to travel to destinations that ART routes do not reach, including some schools, such as Swanson Middle School.

“APS is excited about the expansion of the Student iRide Fare Free Program to include Metrobus service within Arlington,” APS Director of Facilities and Operations Cathy Lin said in a statement. “This opportunity expands access for our students to travel in Arlington on public transit buses.”

The new program also responds to an increase in student ridership that the county ties to free ART travel for students. Arlington County reported that student ridership increased from 61,060 riders between January and September 2022 to 108,365 during the same period in 2023.

“We are encouraged to see that student ridership on ART bus has increased since the rollout of the student fare free program in 2022,” Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Claudia Pors told ARLnow. “Our hope is that by expanding iRide to Metrobus, more young people will become comfortable and familiar using public transportation to get around Arlington safely and sustainably.”

Pors says there are currently no plans to expand the program to include Metrorail. Students can still access the Metro with an iRide SmarTrip card but they will have to pay the full fare amount.

The Arlington County Board approved the agreement with WMATA and the county in July 2023, the county press release says. The county allocated $360,000 in the 2024 fiscal year budget to reimburse Metrobus for the student rides.

Arlington County has taken other steps to make bus rides fare-free, including its free rush hour service on ART buses. Initially set to expire in December, the program was extended through this month.

JUST iN: School cancelled Friday due to snow, APS announces

By ARLnow.com
Snow at Swanson Middle School (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Arlington Public Schools has preemptively given students a snow day and an effective three day weekend due to expected accumulating snowfall tomorrow.

APS made the announcement just before 6 p.m., with several inches of snow in the forecast for Friday. Neighboring Alexandria and Fairfax County also announced Friday closures.

More from APS:

Fri, Jan. 19, 2024: Code 1 – All APS Schools & Offices Closed   

CODE 1: Due to the Winter Weather Advisory in effect for Arlington tomorrow, all APS schools and offices will be closed Fri, Jan. 19, 2024. Unless otherwise directed by their supervisors, custodial and maintenance staff should report to work at their scheduled time. Extracurricular activities, games, team practices, field trips, adult education classes, and programs in schools and on school grounds are canceled. For updates about Pool Operations, go to www.apsva.us/aquatics. For information about Arlington County programs and operations go to www.arlingtonva.us.

The National Weather Service is currently predicting 2-3 inches of snow for Arlington, with the flakes starting to fly before sunrise.

JUST IN: Arlington schools to open after two-hour delay Wednesday

By ARLnow.com
Yorktown High School in the snow (file photo)

After a snow day today, Arlington students will be going back to school on Wednesday — but on a two-hour delay.

Arlington Public Schools made the following announcement at 6 p.m.

Wed, Jan. 17, 2024: Code 2 – All APS Schools & Offices Will Open 2 Hours Late

CODE 2: Due to hazardous conditions resulting from yesterday’s storm, all APS schools and offices will open two hours late tomorrow, Wed, Jan. 17, 2024. The Extended Day program will also open two hours late and morning field trips are canceled. Custodial and maintenance staff and food service workers should report to work at their regularly scheduled time. All other employees should report to work two hours past their usual start time. For updates about Pool Operations, go to www.apsva.us/aquatics. For information about Arlington County operations go to www.arlingtonva.us.

Neighboring Alexandria and Fairfax County also announced two hour delays for Wednesday. Alexandria City Public Schools cited “extreme temperatures and the potential for hazardous conditions” as the reason for the delayed opening.

NEW: Tuesday is a snow day for Arlington Public Schools

By ARLnow.com
An Arlington Public Schools employee clears snow from in front of Barrett Elementary School in 2015 (file photo)

(Updated at midnight) There will be no classes for Arlington Public Schools students Tuesday.

The snow day means at least a four-day weekend for students, when combined with today’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. APS made the announcement around 6 p.m.

Tue, Jan. 16, 2024: Code 1 – All APS Schools & Offices Closed  

CODE 1: All APS schools and offices will be closed tomorrow, Tue, Jan. 16, 2024. Unless otherwise directed by their supervisors, custodial and maintenance staff should report to work at their scheduled time. Extracurricular activities, games, team practices, field trips, adult education classes and programs in schools and on school grounds are canceled. For updates about Pool Operations, go to www.apsva.us/aquatics. For information about Arlington County programs and operations go to www.arlingtonva.us.

Nearby Alexandria, Fairfax County, D.C. and Montgomery County have also announced snow days. The area is, as of 11 p.m., under a Winter Storm Warning, with a couple of additional inches of accumulation expected overnight.

Arlington County government offices and courts, meanwhile, will open at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, while libraries are set to open at noon, the county announced Monday night. The federal government will be closed.

At Reagan National Airport, the FAA is reporting, as of midnight, a Ground Stop due to snow and ice.

NBC 4 chief meteorologist Doug Kammerer said on social media that he arrived on an flight that’s now stranded on the tarmac at DCA while snow is cleared from runways. There are numerous other reports on social media of passengers stranded on planes at the airport.

 

As snow continues to fall tonight, local roads are getting treacherous.

One crash near Rosslyn caused by the snow tonight was caught on video, below.

NEW: APS warns of data breach from visitor management system

By Jo DeVoe
Person working on laptop (Photo by Burst on Unsplash)

(Updated at 4:55 p.m.) Arlington Public Schools experienced a data breach this week affecting information it collects for visitors to school buildings.

The school system notified people of “externally exposed” data in a message sent this afternoon (Friday). The breach is part of a broader leak, reported this morning, affecting some schools in the U.S. that, like APS, use a visitor management system from Raptor Technologies.

“Arlington Public Schools was contacted this week by our Visitor Management System vendor, Raptor Technologies, regarding the discovery of some APS data that was externally exposed for an unspecified timeframe,” Chief Operating Officer Dr. John Mayo said in the message, which APS shared with ARLnow.

“At this time, we do not know what specific APS information was exposed or if it was accessed by anyone,” he continued.

The leaked information could relate to government-issued IDs.

The visitor management software that Raptor Technologies offers screens each visitor’s government-issued ID card against sex offender registries in all 50 states and “an unlimited number of custom databases,” according to its website.

This information is collected when visitors enter and exit a building, according to someone familiar with how APS uses the system. The technology also scans APS ID badges, for those who have them, and is used partly for substitutes to record when they show up for work.

Visitors receive a badge with their photo, name, role, destination and date and time of entry, according to Raptor.

APS says Raptor took action after learning of the breach.

“Upon learning of the breach, Raptor secured the accessible information and initiated an investigation,” Mayo’s message said. “This issue has affected many school systems nationwide, not only APS. For your awareness, this system is used to manage visitors and volunteers entering our facilities. APS utilizes a limited number of services offered by Raptor, compared to the full range of its capabilities.”

The school system says it is working with Raptor and will give updates as it learns more information.

“The safety of our students, staff and community is our utmost priority, and we will continue working with Raptor to ensure that all necessary steps are being taken to safeguard the information in Raptor,” Mayo said.

This was not the only tech issue that APS faced this week.

It appears APS used up all of its allotted Google cloud storage space — 122 terabytes, or roughly 5 gigabytes per user — according to June Prakash, the head of the local teachers union, Arlington Education Association.

“Some staff could not access email or other documents including plans for the upcoming days,” she said.

On Saturday, APS got to work to resolve issues some users reported, including being unable to save documents, according an email sent to staff. By Monday, “the issue reported with Google has been resolved,” a follow-up email said.

An APS spokesman later said the brief disruption was caused by a “service subscription issue between our retailer and Google,” and the school system worked to ensure the service was restored on Monday morning.

Photo via Burst/Unsplash

APS poised to add Walter Reed Drive road upgrades to Career Center project

By James Jarvis
1/2

Arlington Public Schools is poised to tie planned S. Walter Reed Drive upgrades into its $180 million Arlington Career Center project.

This past Saturday, the Arlington County Board approved a memorandum of agreement permitting APS to appoint the same contractor for the Career Center’s construction to handle the road improvements — part of the county’s Neighborhood Complete Streets program — from 5th Street S. to Columbia Pike.

Next, the agreement will head to the Arlington School Board for approval in January.

The upgrades to S. Walter Reed Drive will include new trees, protected bike lanes, a traffic light at the 9th Street S. intersection and improved bus stops. The community broadly supported these enhancements following a series of public feedback sessions held from fall 2020 to spring 2021, per a county staff report.

Currently, construction of the five-story Career Center at 816 S. Walter Reed Drive, slated to start next spring, is set to overlap with the road work. County and school officials agreed to merge the two projects to avoid traffic congestion and construction snags.

“So, essentially, when you have two contractors trying to work in the same place at the same time, somebody gets delayed,” APS Director of Design and Construction Jeffrey Chambers told School Board members during their meeting last Thursday.

Under the plan, the county will foot the bill for the road work, estimated at $7 million, and reimburse APS for any extra administrative costs, the report said.

APS is not required to contribute financially to the road improvements. Still, it must inform the county of any additional expenses due to construction delays. Should the road work exceed its budget, APS must obtain county approval before proceeding.

The bulk of the road work is expected to be completed within the first year of construction, with the final paving and overlay scheduled just before the Career Center opens in August 2026, Chambers said last week.

The funding for the S. Walter Reed Drive road improvements has already been earmarked in the county’s Capital Improvement Plan.

APS is still in the process of securing a contractor for the Career Center, which will host up to 1,619 students and include a four-story parking garage.

Officials plan to present the combined bids for the Career Center construction and road improvements to the County Board in early 2024. The Board will then approve the fund transfer and any additional construction financing.

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