Arlington Public Schools

Court grants school boards’ request, mask mandates can temporarily continue

By Matt Blitz
A discarded medical mask in the parking lot of the Shirlington Harris Teeter (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(updated at 5:30 p.m.) In a win for a number of local school boards, the Arlington County Circuit Court has issued a temporary injunction preventing Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin from banning mask mandates in schools.

The ruling came late Friday afternoon, after an emergency hearing that was held on Wednesday (Feb. 2).

As was discussed in the courtroom, the final ruling will come down to if Gov. Glenn Youngkin, even with emergency powers, has the ability to override local school boards’ decisions given to them in Senate Bill 1303. The court ruled today that the argument has merit so issued a temporary injunction allowing schools to continue their policies.

In response, Arlington County Public Schools issued a statement on behalf of all the involved school boards. It reads in part:

“The School Boards of Alexandria City, Arlington County, City of Richmond, Fairfax County, Falls Church City, Hampton City and Prince William County are pleased with the temporary injunction granted today by the Arlington Circuit Court. The order allows schools to continue to protect the health and well being of all students and staff. While the legal process on this matter continues, today’s ruling preserves the existing policies and practices in Virginia school divisions, which includes masking requirements.”

On Jan. 15, the day after his inauguration, Youngkin issued an executive order banning mask mandates in Virginia schools. Days later, he was sued by seven state school boards including by those in Arlington, the City of Alexandria and Fairfax County.

The lawsuit claims that the executive order is in violation of the Virginia Constitution that gives individual school boards the authority to supervise public schools. The suit also alleges that the order violates Senate Bill 1303, signed into law last March, that requires schools to offer for in-person learning while following CDC guidance and applying “any currently applicable mitigation strategies” to reduce the transmission of Covid.

“Without today’s action, school boards are placed in a legally untenable position — faced with an executive order that is in conflict with the constitution and state law,” the Arlington Public Schools press release said about bringing the lawsuit. “Today’s action is not politically motivated. These seven school divisions would welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the governor to ensure the safety and welfare of all students.”

Another hearing will be set in regards to a permanent injunction.

 

The full APS statement is below.

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Solution in sight for Boulevard Manor kids zoned away from friends five years ago

By Jo DeVoe
Kenmore Middle School student Xavier Anderson speaks during a School Board meeting (via APS)

Boulevard Manor families whose kids have been or will be separated from their middle school friends for high school can apply for a placement process to try and avoid that fate, Arlington Public Schools says.

Students who live in the neighborhood, near the Arlington border with Falls Church, attend Kenmore Middle School but do not matriculate to Washington-Liberty High School like their peers. Instead, they attend Yorktown High School as a result of a 2017 boundary change when W-L was overcrowded.

Students and parents say it’s difficult to adjust to Yorktown, where only 3% of the student body comes from Kenmore. But getting back to W-L — via a neighborhood transfer or the school’s International Baccalaureate (IB) program — can require winning the lottery, literally.

Whenever applications for a neighborhood transfer or into the IB program exceed available seats, APS holds a double-blind lottery for spots and maintains a waitlist. The IB waitlist has been on the rise for the last four years, and stood around 80 students last March.

So last fall, a group of Boulevard Manor community members seized on the boundary change process moving students from Wakefield High School to W-L to request APS extend the same change to them. Once over-crowded, the school will have plenty of seats after construction at the neighboring 600-seat Education Center (1426 N. Quincy Street), formerly an APS administrative building, wraps up and doors open this fall. The extra seats will offset the IB waitlist.

Boulevard Manor families didn’t succeed on the boundary process front, but this week, Superintendent Francisco Durán recommended a way forward without a lottery: an administrative placement.

“Following requests from the Boulevard Manor community, Dr. Durán recommended they request an administrative placement if they are interested in students changing the school they currently attend,” APS spokesman Frank Bellavia said. “It is a process that some Boulevard Manor families have already gone through.”

This process is available to all APS families, Bellavia said, but approval depends on a school’s capacity when the request is received.

These placements are approved on a case-by-case basis and are typically based on the following special circumstances:

  • if a juvenile and domestic relations district court judge requests the transfer
  • to bridge a short-term gap in their instructional program
  • as a result of a disciplinary incident
  • if the student experiences repeated bullying and can’t learn as a result
  • if a certified medical or psychological need requires a change of environment
  • if the student or family is experiencing hardships — a death or medical illness in the family and financial troubles — that make it difficult for the student to get what they need at their home school

“Administrative placement requests are less common than neighborhood transfer requests, but are another method to submit requests to change schools when neighborhood transfers are not available or when a request is being made outside of the annual neighborhood transfer application timeframe,” Bellavia said. “Administrative placements are approved on a case by case basis contingent upon a student meeting one of the six criteria outlined in the policy.”

Arlington Dems vote overwhelmingly to keep School Board caucus process

By Jo DeVoe
The Arlington School Board at a meeting
Arlington School Board at a meeting (file photo)

(Updated at 3:20 p.m.) Arlington Democrats voted loud and clear: the School Board endorsement caucus process should stay. 

Members of the Arlington County Democratic Committee voted 117-22 to use the caucus process to select which School Board candidates to endorse during the general election. ACDC met last night (Wednesday) to hear both sides of the issue and the results were announced today (Thursday).

Now, ACDC has to establish rules for the 2022 process, informed by four listening sessions, last night’s debate and an internal review. 

“Education is a top priority for us and we support great public schools that provide children with the education and curriculum they need to succeed in life,” Arlington Democrats Chair Steve Baker said today in a statement. “Arlington Democrats will always be an ally and supporter in that effort and we want our process to be as open, inclusive and equitable as possible. We know it takes hard work to achieve real results but we’re ready and committed to that process.”

This vote applies only to using the process this year, and future votes can reprise the issue, Baker told ARLnow. A seat will open up next year following School Board Chair Barbara Kanninen’s resignation announcement.

Virginia school board races are nonpartisan, so Arlington Dems can only endorse candidates — not nominate them. As part of ACDC’s process, however, candidates agree in May not to run in the general election, making the end result similar to a primary.

This was the first time the committee voted on the use of the caucus, according to deputy chief Mike Hemminger, and it came after the Arlington Branch of the NAACP, the pro-open-schools group Arlington Parents for Education and a group of self-identified Democrats separately called on ACDC to end or significantly reform the process. 

“Last night, we heard genuine concerns regarding the equity of the endorsement process,” Hemminger said today in a statement. “Systemic inequities are present in any structural system. It is vital that Arlington Democrats partner with all community members to break down barriers to access and include these voices and perspectives in each of our processes.”

Arguments against the caucus include that whiter, wealthier North Arlington residents are over-represented in it, that it discourages broad election participation, discourages federal employees from running due to the Hatch Act, effectively determines who wins in November, and makes nonpartisan officials beholden to a political party. 

But the School Board is nonpartisan only on paper, according to some committee members. They said the caucus is the best means of ensuring Democrat values prevail in Arlington against the right-wing forces trying to influence Virginia school boards.

“Republicans have shown their hands,” said School Board Chair Barbara Kanninen. “In Richmond, they’re openly promoting a public school system that serves the haves better than the have nots. We Democrats cannot let them succeed.”

Without the caucus, she said, the board could not move forward “a progressive, Democrat agenda,” including removing School Resource Officers, supporting transgender students, removing Confederate names from buildings, adding world holidays to the school calendar, building green schools and approving equity policies, among other aims. 

School Board member Cristina Diaz-Torres and former member Monique O’Grady also offered their support.

“Conservatives who lost the White House are laser-focused on using their resources to target school board elections,” O’Grady said. “Virginia was a test case for this. It’s happening in other districts and there’s a thinly veiled attempt happening here in Arlington.” 

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APS superintendent recommends ‘pausing’ virtual learning program next school year

By Jo DeVoe

(Updated at 12:45 p.m.) Superintendent Francisco Durán says Arlington Public Schools should hit the “pause” button on its Virtual Learning Program for next school year.

He’ll deliver this evaluation to the School Board during its meeting tonight (Thursday).

“The recommendation is to pause the program for next school year, as we take the time necessary to build a comprehensive virtual option program that will be sustainable and serve the needs of students who thrive in the virtual setting, for the long term,” APS Chief of School Support Kimberley Graves said in an email to families sent yesterday (Wednesday).

APS set aside $10.5 million in federal pandemic relief funds to create an in-house virtual option last summer for families with health and safety concerns about in-person learning as well as those waiting for the vaccine and those whose kids preferred online school.

Today, the VLP serves some 420 students, mostly children of color and many of whom have a disability, are economically disadvantaged students or are English-learning.

It got off to a rocky start due to severe staff shortages, and was plagued by issues related to communication, leadership turnover, teacher treatment and a lack of needed resources. By December, with enrollment dropping, rumors swirled that the program could come to an end — despite a mid-year update on the effort to aright it. Last month, administrators again reported progress, but did not address the speculation about the VLP’s future.

The proposed pause depends on a School Board vote scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 17. APS will hold a virtual town hall this month to address families’ questions and concerns, and staff will help students transition back to their home schools.

But APS is signaling that it’s open to running a virtual program long term. Graves said families will have opportunities to join a task force led by VLP Principal Danielle Harrell to develop a framework for a future virtual option.

Meanwhile, students may continue with virtual instruction through the state’s online learning platform, Virtual Virginia, if they or a family member has a medical condition that complicates going to school every day. APS staff will supplement whatever Virtual Virginia courses don’t cover and will support students during the transfer to their home schools.

“The success and well-being of your student(s) through the remainder of this school year, and throughout the transition back to in-person school at their school of record for the 2022-23 school year, are our priority and are the priority of our administrators and staff,” Graves said.

A special-education teacher told ARLnow that VLP staff were told they would be given priority for jobs within APS. She’s skeptical that a scheduled job fair for VLP staff will work for most teachers’ schedules, however.

A second grade teacher told ARLnow she feels betrayed by the decision.

“I’ve worked tirelessly over nights, weekends, and holidays to ensure my students have the best learning experience,” she said in an email. “Teachers came together to fight for this program every day, while having to welcome in new students on a consistent basis.”

She said teachers organized virtual events, field trips and after-school programs, spent hours creating content and bought their own programs, subscriptions and technology “so that our students never felt the inequities that were inevitably placed on them.”

“When there were staff shortages, we covered each other without extra pay. We skipped our personal lunch to eat with our students, missed prep periods, and took over classes without subs day in and day out to ensure our students were provided the best or nothing,” she said. “This is devastating to every individual who fought for VLP and worked hard to bring the program to fruition. It is a sad evening for us all.”

APS relaunches Career Center expansion project after delaying it due to cost overruns

By Jo DeVoe

The Arlington Career Center (via Arlington Public Schools)

Arlington Public Schools is ramping up planning work to build a new school and parking garage at the Arlington Career Center site.

A group tasked with developing the project from 2018-2020 has reconvened and will be working quickly to flesh out the project before the School Board reviews designs this spring.

Planning documents indicate APS envisions building a new, 5-story Career Center along S. Walter Reed Drive that would provide a modern space suited to the 21st-century career and technical skills taught inside.

APS is working on two plans: a “base” plan for a $170.5 million, 260,000-square-foot building for 1,795 students, and an “alternative” plan for a $153 million, 225,000-square-foot building for 1,345 students that is designed to accommodate a future expansion.

Building next to the current ACC building (816 S. Walter Reed Drive) will minimize disruptions and lower costs, according to APS administration.

“One of the things we learned through the last process is that building around an existing high school while the students are in there is cost-prohibitive,” said Lisa Stengle, the APS executive director of planning and evaluation, in a January planning meeting.

ACC houses college and career-readiness programs as well as programs that help recent immigrant students pursue their high school diploma and provide job training for special education students and support for teen parents.

In 2018, APS launched an expansion project to add up to 800 seats to the Career Center, and designs were being finalized in the spring of 2020 when the pandemic hit. The School Board removed the project from its 2021 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) because it was $84 million, and then $34 million, over budget.

At the time, the board told the school system to focus on smaller renovations to meet rising enrollment. Since then, completed renovations to the Columbia Pike Branch Library created more space for students, and APS is spending around $31 million to add more seats to the current ACC building over the next three years.

But now APS is looking to build once more. The School Board directed Superintendent Francisco Durán in October to add the project to the 2023-32 Capital Improvement Plan, set for approval in June. If approved, the project will go to voters in November as a School Bond referendum.

APS expects to start construction in December 2023 and finish the building in December 2025 and the entire project in 2027.

The graphic below shows how the site will change through the project. (The current ACC building is in light gray, the Columbia Pike library is in dark gray and the above-ground parking garage is in tan.)

Preliminary site plan for the Arlington Career Center building (via APS)

Part of the current ACC building (indicated with red dashes) will be demolished to accommodate the above-ground, 400-space parking structure at S. Highland Street and 9th Street S.

The Columbia Pike Branch Library will remain where it is, as will the rest of the ACC building, which APS intends to use as a flexible space. Separately, APS is figuring out what to do with the building long term.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Runners at Washington-Liberty High School in the mist and fog (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

APS Test-to-Stay Date Set — “Arlington County Public Schools, in Virginia, is planning to launch its test-to-stay program Feb. 14, a school spokesman said. The coronavirus testing will initially be offered to students only, for free, at Syphax Education Center from 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on school days.” [WTOP]

Police Probe Particularly Problematic Pothole — “Scanner: Police responding to intersection of Washington Blvd and N. Sycamore Street in East Falls Church for multiple reports of a large pothole damaging passing cars.” [Twitter]

Another Guy Arrested With Gun at DCA — “A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officer stopped a West Virginia man from bringing a loaded handgun onto a flight leaving from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) early Tuesday morning, according to a TSA release. The TSA officer detected the .40 caliber gun while searching the Bunker Hill, West Virginia man’s carry-on items at a DCA checkpoint.” [Patch]

ART Performance Is Best in Region — From MetroHero: “Our January 2022 regional bus performance reports are now live! ART: B. DASH: B-. Fairfax Connector: B-. MTA Local Bus: C. Metrobus: C-. Ride On: D+.” [Twitter]

Marymount to Host National Event — “Marymount University has been selected by the Center for Excellence in Education to host the national finals of the 2022 USA Biolympiad, to be held on campus May 28 to June 9. The USA Biolympiad is the nation’s largest cost-free biology-education testing and training program for high-school students in the U.S.” [Sun Gazette]

Photos: Church’s Lunar New Year Celebration — “Bishop Michael F. Burbidge celebrated Mass in honor of the Vietnamese New Year at Holy Martyrs of Vietnam Church in Arlington Jan. 30. Tet, or Vietnamese New Year, is celebrated Feb. 1 this year. Following Mass, Bishop Burbidge blessed a shrine to Our Lady of La Vang in a courtyard outside Holy Martyrs.” [Arlington Catholic Herald]

It’s Groundhog Day — Patchy fog today before 8 a.m. Otherwise, Groundhog Day will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 46. Sunrise at 7:12 a.m. and sunset at 5:31 p.m. Rain likely Thursday, mainly before 1 p.m. Otherwise cloudy, with a high near 56. [Weather.gov]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

A group of birds sits on power lines along Langston Blvd (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Local Leaders Push for More Boosters — “A good number of Arlington residents seem to be turning a blind eye and/or deaf ear to governmental drumbeats for COVID booster shots. Only one in three adults in the county has receive the extra shots, County Manager Mark Schwartz told County Board members on Jan. 25. ‘We need to do better,’ the manager said.” [Sun Gazette]

New Trail Proposed — From Arlington Transportation Commission Chair Chris Slatt: “Kenmore Middle School and Carlin Springs Elementary school have a sustainable access problem… One project that could start improving this situation is what Sustainable Mobility for Arlington County calls the ‘Kenmore Connector Trail’ — a walking & biking trail on the west side of Carlin Springs Road that could connect Kenmore & Carlin Springs across Arlington Blvd to the W&OD Trail.” [Chris Slatt]

APS Trying Out New Menu Items — “Despite ongoing concerns about supply-chain problems, the Arlington school system is getting creative in providing new meal options for students. New on the menu for the winter cycle are fruit smoothies for breakfast and spinach-and-chicken empanadas, chicken-and-vegetable dumplings and cheesy chicken pasta for lunch.” [Sun Gazette]

New ATMs at DCA — From Reagan National Airport: “We are in the process of transitioning to a new ATM provider and all ATMs have been removed from the airport. We are working with the new provider to install new ATMs as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience during this transition!” [Twitter]

Early Closure for ANC — “Due to incoming inclement weather, Arlington National Cemetery will close early on Friday, January 28, at 3 pm and will have a delayed opening on Saturday, January 29, until 10 am. Funeral services will not be impacted and will continue as scheduled.” [Twitter]

It’s Friday — On today’s snow threat: “Evening computer models have bumped up snowfall totals in the immediate area and now suggest 1 to 3 inches may be more likely than a coating to 2 inches. Of particular note, they suggest we may have a period of steadier snow around the Friday evening commute as temperatures fall back toward freezing. This could mean slick roads. You may want to think about coming home early (by 3 or 4 p.m.) on Friday or working at home if possible.” [Capital Weather Gang, Twitter]

NAACP urges Arlington Dems to end its School Board caucus process

By Jo DeVoe

The Arlington Branch of the NAACP levied sharp criticisms against the local Democratic party’s School Board endorsement caucus, which is up for debate next week.

On Wednesday at 7 p.m., the Arlington County Democratic Committee is set to consider the objections to its caucus and vote on whether and how to change this process. The vote will be just one month after new leadership took over ACDC.

In Virginia, all School Board races are nonpartisan, meaning parties like Arlington Dems can only endorse candidates, not nominate them as in a primary. But as part of the endorsement caucus, typically held in May, candidates agree not to run in the general election, making the end result similar to a primary.

Or, as the NAACP puts it, the caucus is a “shadow election overriding the democratic and regulated process.”

It argues that, months before the general election, the process influences who runs, how much they spend and how they campaign, who wins and whose votes matter.

“[H]olding a partisan caucus outside the general election schedule leads to voter confusion and thus undermines voter engagement, equitable voter representation, and candidate recruitment,” the group said in a letter to Arlington Dems President Steve Baker.

Part of the problem, the NAACP says, is that voters don’t understand the role of the caucus and will likely just pick the Democrat favored by the caucus when voting down-ballot at the polls.

“The partisan sample ballot and the ‘D’ designation of the endorsed candidate has the effect — in a county so heavily comprised of registered Democrats as Arlington — of rendering the official election in November predetermined by the prior shadow election of the partisan caucus,” the letter said. “Absent reform, the default winner of the proper democratic process always has been and presumably always will be the winner of the endorsement caucus.”

Defenders of the caucus say that’s the point.

“Many County residents lack the time to attend candidate debates or study candidates’ written policy positions and understandably look for a shortcut to winnow the field — the R or the D next to candidate names,” writes resident John Seymour, a precinct captain with Arlington Dems, in Blue Virginia.

Another issue is representation in terms of candidates and turnout, the NAACP says. Voting in the caucus heavily skews toward White Democrats living in North Arlington, meaning candidates with firm northern networks are more likely to run and receive support, according to the letter.

More from the NAACP:

[T]he 22207 zip code was consistently one of the highest represented areas in the caucus process, with almost one-third of the caucus votes (32%) in 2021; however, this zip code comprises only 14% of the total Arlington population and is 79% White. In contrast, the 22204 zip code is the most highly populated in Arlington (23%) and the most diverse (18% Black, 27% Hispanic, and 38% White), but disproportionately made up only 15% of the caucus vote in 2021.

… “If left to the insular implementation, the voting will continue to skew to benefit a specific geographic region in Arlington. It has for all of the years for which we have data and presumably the entirety of the endorsement caucus.”

Still, in recent years, voter participation in the caucus has trended upward, according to ACDC. Last May, 6,207 ballots were cast, exceeding the last county caucus record of 5,972 votes, set in 2017.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Andrew Ellicott Park, named after the surveyor of Washington, DC, holds the original western cornerstone of the District of Columbia, dating to 1791 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Preservation Bill Proposed After Rouse Razing — “Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington) has introduced legislation that, if enacted, could give preservationists more of a fighting chance to retain properties they deem worth saving. Hope’s bill makes several changes to the state’s historic-preservation laws, most notably prohibiting a local government from permitting the razing of a proposed historic property until 30 days after a final decision on the matter has been made.” [Sun Gazette]

Students Getting At-Home Covid Tests — “Last week we received a large shipment of rapid at-home Covid-19 test kits. These kits are in the process of being delivered to our schools for distribution to students, beginning toward the end of this week or early next.” [Arlington Public Schools]

Dorsey to Lead Regional Board — “Arlington County Board member Christian Dorsey will chair the board of directors of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments for 2022.” [Sun Gazette]

Old Home Gets Rocking Aesthetic — “The white-stucco, black-shuttered exterior of this 1871 center-hall Colonial in Country Club Hills belies its rock-and-roll interior. That’s part of the fun. A century and a half ago, the stately home was likely built as a summer residence for a wealthy D.C. family. Today, it’s owned by Ben and Dina Hitch, a pair of concert-going music and art aficionados whose vast collection of original record albums and American artwork spans decades.” [Arlington Magazine]

Marymount Junior Stands Out on Court — “As a result of helping the Marymount University women’s basketball team improve to 5-0 and first place in the Atlantic East Conference, junior Symantha Shackelford recently was selected as the league’s Player of the Week in women’s college basketball.” [Sun Gazette]

Snow Incoming — “A major winter storm is set to slam parts of the Northeast on Saturday, with heavy snowfall, strong to damaging winds and coastal flooding all possible… For D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia, the storm probably gets going too late to drop more than a couple inches of snow, but areas just to the east have a chance to see more substantial amounts.” [Capital Weather Gang, Twitter]

It’s Thursday — Today will be sunny, with a high near 37. Sunrise at 7:18 a.m. and sunset at 5:24 p.m. A low around 27 Thursday night. Friday will be cloudy, with a high near 37. Light snow possible in the morning, then probable in the afternoon, perhaps mixing with rain. Expect snow and wind gusts as high as 26 mph Friday night. [Weather.gov]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Wreaths being removed from Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday (Photo by Staff Sgt. Priscilla Desormeaux/U.S. Army National Guard)

Beyer Running for Reelection — “U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D) made it official on Monday. He will be running again to represent the Virginia’s 8th Congressional District, according to a statement released Monday. Victoria Virasingh, who launched her campaign back in August, will face Beyer in the Democratic Party Primary on June 21. So far, two GOP candidates have thrown their hats in the ring for the 8th Congressional District seat, Monica Carpio and Heerak Christian Kim.” [Patch]

Fate of Police Auditor Bill Uncertain — “Legislators working on behalf of a request from the Arlington County government are shepherding measures through the General Assembly providing for creation of an independent police auditor for the county… an enabling measure by Sen. Barbara Favola (D-Arlington-Fairfax-Loudoun) cleared the Committee on Local Government 10-5, but passed the state Senate on a slim party-line 21-19 vote. That could spell trouble in the House of Delegates, where Republicans now hold the majority.” [Sun Gazette]

Tires and Rims Stolen in Crystal City — “2100 block of Richmond Highway. At approximately 1:34 p.m. on January 23, police were dispatched to the report of a larceny from auto. Upon arrival, it was determined that between 2:00 p.m. on January 22 and 1:23 p.m. on January 23, the unknown suspect(s) stole tires and rims from four vehicles. There is no suspect(s) description. The investigation is ongoing.” [ACPD]

Rainy Snow Day Was Forecast Failure — “It wasn’t quite a mea culpa, and there was a lot of shade cast in other directions, but Superintendent Francisco Durán kinda, sorta intimated that school officials blew the call in closing schools on Jan. 20 for what turned out to be… rain. ‘This one was very difficult,’ Dúran told School Board members at their meeting later that night. ‘The forecast we had… did not pan out as expected from what we received from our local weather and national weather sources.'” [Sun Gazette]

It’s Tuesday — Today will be mostly cloudy, with a high near 44 and wind gusts as high as 22 mph. Sunrise at 7:19 a.m. and sunset at 5:22 p.m. Tomorrow will be sunny, with a high near 30 and wind gusts as high as 18 mph. [Weather.gov]

Photo by Staff Sgt. Priscilla Desormeaux/U.S. Army National Guard

Arlington School Board sues to challenge Youngkin’s mask order

By Brandi Bottalico

(updated at 3:35 p.m.) The Arlington School Board is suing to stop Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order that doesn’t allow school systems to require students to wear masks.

The lawsuit filed this morning (Monday) challenges the order issued by Youngkin on Jan. 15, his first day in office. Arlington joined school boards from Fairfax County, Alexandria City, Falls Church City, Hampton City, Prince William County and the City of Richmond in the suit.

The order states parents should be able to “elect for their children not to be subject to any mask mandate in effect at the child’s school or educational program.”

The order was supposed to take effect today but school districts across the state, including Arlington, already made decisions at the local level to go against the order and keep a mask requirement in place as part of a strategy to reduce the spread of Covid and maintain in-person instruction.

The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the executive order, and defends the right of school boards to enact policy at the local level. The lawsuit also claims the executive order goes against Senate Bill 1303, which was adopted in the General Assembly’s 2021 special session. The law states school boards should follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s health and safety requirements.

“Everyone in our community plays a role in keeping schools open and safe for students through consistent mask wearing and other mitigation measures,” APS Superintendent Fransisco Durán wrote in an email to families. “Our shared goal remains to make sure every student continues to access in-person learning five days per week. We look forward to the opportunity to ease these requirements in APS once public health guidance indicates it is safe to do so.”

APS spokesman Frank Bellavia said the schools continue to follow the same guidelines in place since the beginning of the school year.

“If a student is not wearing a mask, our schools are advised to speak to the student and provide them a mask to wear,” he said.

He said the vast majority of APS families support and adhere to the health and safety guidelines and when students arrived at school Monday, there were “very few incidents.”

The Arlington School Board put out a statement as well, stating it “stands together with participating school boards across the Commonwealth to defend our constitutional right to set policies and supervise our local schools. We continue to make decisions that allow us to keep schools open and safe for in-person learning, in accordance with Virginia law SB 1303 and the CDC’s guidance regarding the use of universal masks and other layered prevention strategies.”

Over the last seven days, 467 students and 98 staff members were positive for Covid, according to the school system’s COVID-19 dashboard.

The full press release from Arlington Public Schools is below.

Today, the Schools Boards of Alexandria City, Arlington County, City of Richmond, Fairfax County, Falls Church City, Hampton City and Prince William County, filed a lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of Executive Order 2 issued by the governor on January 15, 2022. The legal action, representing over 350,000 students across the state, defends the right of school boards to enact policy at the local level, including policies that protect the health and well-being of all students and staff.

This legal action centers on fundamental questions about the framework of public education in Virginia, as set out in the Virginia Constitution and by the General Assembly. At issue is whether locally elected school boards have the exclusive authority and responsibility conferred upon them by Article VIII, § 7 of the Constitution of Virginia over supervision of the public schools in their respective communities, or whether an executive order can unilaterally override that constitutional authority.

Also at issue is whether a governor can, through executive order, without legislative action by the Virginia General Assembly, reverse a lawfully-adopted statute. In this case, Senate Bill 1303, adopted with the goal of returning students to safe in-person instruction five days a week in March 2021 and still legally in effect, provides that local school boards should follow The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) health and safety requirements.

Without today’s action, school boards are placed in a legally untenable position — faced with an executive order that is in conflict with the constitution and state law. Today’s action is not politically motivated. These seven school divisions would welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the governor to ensure the safety and welfare of all students.

This lawsuit is not brought out of choice, but out of necessity.

With COVID-19 transmission rates high, our hospitals at crisis level, and the continued recommendation of health experts to retain universal mask-wearing for the time being, this is simply not the time to remove this critical component of layered health and safety mitigation strategies. School divisions need to continue to preserve their authority to protect and serve all our students, including our most vulnerable, who need these mitigation measures perhaps more than anyone to be able to continue to access in-person instruction.

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