This week was yet another filled with plenty of news about snow, but unlike previous January weeks not a lot of actual snow.
Using its last traditional snow day allotment, Arlington Public Schools closed Thursday for what turned out to be a bust — a rainy, cold day. Lucky for students looking to enjoy the weather when school’s closed, this weekend should at least be sunny, albeit a little cold, in Arlington.
Now, here are the most-read Arlington articles of the past week.
APS Chief of School Support Kimberley Graves (via APS)
(Updated at 12:05 p.m. on 2/3/21) During the Arlington School Board meeting last night, public school administrators made the case for why the fledgling, controversial in-house virtual learning platform now deserves better grades.
Last fall, Arlington Public Schools launched its Virtual Learning Program for families with reservations about in-person school amid the pandemic or whose students preferred online classes.
But the program got off to a rocky start due to a teacher shortage and lack of administrative support. Parents said many students were sitting unsupervised in virtual “waiting rooms,” doing individual work overseen by assistants, struggling to get into third-party online classes and not getting needed special-education services.
Teachers, meanwhile, reported getting switched to different subjects on short notice, scrambling to find instructional resources, not knowing who to talk to and feeling unsupported.
“We were not pleased with the rocky start and we wanted to make sure things were moving on a little more smoothly by about this time of the year,” School Board Chair Barbara Kanninen said during the meeting.
Yesterday, APS administrators outlined what it’s done since then to extinguish the VLP’s myriad little fires. They didn’t, however, address the rumors swirling of an uncertain future for the VLP beyond the 2021-22 school year amid dropping enrollment, mostly at the elementary level, as families transition back to their home school or leave the school system. The program had 282 elementary students in October and has 247 students today.
Kimberley Graves, APS’s chief of school support, said communications with parents and home schools have improved under the new principal Danielle Harrell, but that the connection between the online and the brick-and-mortar school still needs work — an assessment shared by some teachers.
“While there’s been tremendous support from home schools, there is still work to be done to ensure that our students in the VLP have a direct connection to their home schools and really define what those connections look like,” Graves said.
A parent from the VLP Parents’ Coalition echoed Graves’ evaluation of the program.
“Although VLP has made good progress, there are still a number of challenges to be addressed, and the VLP Parents Coalition looks forward to continuing our collaboration with APS to ensure the program is a successful option for those that need and want it,” the parent, who wished to remain anonymous, told ARLnow.
Those connections are crucial because, compared to the overall APS student body, the VLP has higher proportions of students who received additional services from their brick-and-mortar buildings pre-pandemic. Sixty percent of students are eligible for free- or reduced-price lunch, while 24% are special-education students and 36% are English-language learners.
Graves outlined a few bright spots: Harrell was onboarded with the temporary help of three retired principals who also addressed the program’s immediate concerns. She now meets regularly with the school systems’ other principals. Every vacant instructional position is now filled and teachers had opportunities last November to access instructional training.
APS is calling more families of students who don’t log in frequently, but Graves said, this isn’t “catching all students.” Meanwhile, those students who were teacher-less in September won’t receive first-quarter grades in those classes.
Going forward, Graves said APS will make sure more students can participate in extracurricular activities and athletics through their home schools and increase the number of middle- and high-school classes taught by live APS teachers.
All elementary classrooms are taught by APS teachers but third-party vendors such as Virtual Virginia, the state’s online learning platform, are used in the middle and high school levels, she said.
More than 70% of middle school classes are taught by live APS teachers; at the high school, two-thirds of classes are taught by third-party vendors to give students a wide variety of courses to choose from.
New Deputy County Attorney Named — “Mr. Ryan Samuel, who joined the County Attorney’s Office (CAO) in 2018, serves as a board member for the Local Government Attorneys of Virginia and is a member of the Virginia Workers’ Compensation American Inn of Court.” [Arlington Government]
APS Launches Test to Stay — The Virginia Department of Health has authorized Arlington Public Schools to implement its “test to stay” pilot program, which consists of contact tracing and serial COVID-19 testing so students can continue attending school during after being a close contact to someone who tested positive. [APS]
Still Not Getting Mail? — From Rep. Don Beyer: “We’re working with USPS leadership to resolve mail delivery problems arising from winter weather and omicron-driven staffing shortages. I’m told some USPS units are working with just 1/3 of normal staff. Keep alerting my District Office to your issues, we’ll do our best to help.” [Twitter]
DES Seeks Input on Eads Street — From DES: “It’s a concept. It’s a design. It’s a concept design for upgrading S Eads Street between 12th and 15th Streets S. And you can chime in.” [Twitter, SurveyMonkey]
Virginia Hospital Center Names CEO — “The Arlington hospital said Wednesday that New York health care executive Christopher Lane will succeed Jim Cole, who’s retiring after nearly 37 years as its president and CEO.” [Washington Business Journal]
Speed Cameras Could be Coming — “Coming soon to a thoroughfare near you – Arlington aims to install speed-monitoring cameras that will spit out $50 citations to offenders.” [Sun Gazette]
Arlington Public Schools and offices will be closed Thursday due to the expected snow and messy commute.
“Extracurricular activities, games, team practices, field trips, adult education classes, and programs in schools and on school grounds are canceled,” the school system announced today (Wednesday).
In November, APS modified its snow procedures to include six traditional snow days, and when all those are used, it is expected to revert to virtual days. At the beginning of January, students were set to return to classrooms from winter break but got an additional week off school due to snow — using all but one of the traditional snow days.
❄️ January 20, 2022: Code 1 – All APS Schools & Offices Closed ❄️ Due to the winter weather advisory issued for Arlington during the morning commute, all schools and offices will be closed on Thursday, January 20. More ▶️https://t.co/LfCyySO0Kzpic.twitter.com/KJ1mEuIOzy
Superintendent Francisco Durán sent an update to the school system Wednesday before the closure announcement, stating staff are preparing for how teachers and students can transition to synchronous, virtual learning on future inclement weather days. He said he would share a full plan on virtual learning in his Wednesday, Jan. 26 message and recommended several ways children can be ready for virtual learning.
“Remind your student(s) to bring their devices and charging cords home daily in preparation for a closure due to inclement weather. Teachers will also remind students,” he wrote. “Notify your child’s teacher if your child does not have access to reliable internet so that the school can help connect you to this resource. More information is available online.”
School Board Chair Barbara Kanninen during an in-person meeting in December (via APS)
School Board Chair Barbara Kanninen will not seek re-election after her term ends this December.
The chair said in an announcement on Sunday that she will “continue the hard work of serving our students, staff, and the Arlington community” for the rest of her term, which ends on Dec. 31, 2022.
Kanninen, first elected to the School Board in 2015, was re-elected in 2018. Before assuming the role of chair in July 2021, she last served as chair in 2017-18.
“It’s a tremendous honor to serve the Arlington community as Chair of the School Board,” she wrote. “I love this job and truly believe it’s the most important one in Arlington, especially at this time… I’m proud of everything we’ve achieved together to improve Arlington Public Schools during my eight years on the board, but it is now time to hand over the reins.”
Her announcement continues below:
It is my sincere hope that the 2022 Democratic endorsement process will be a positive, constructive one. Arlington’s children deserve leaders who care deeply about them and will work hard every day to ensure they have the supports and opportunities they need. The superintendent and my colleagues on the School Board are exactly those kinds of leaders, and I hope that equally caring individuals will step up this year to run.
Thank you so much for your support. I look forward to continuing the hard work of serving our students, staff, and the Arlington community throughout 2022, and I promise that I will continue to find ways to serve beyond this year.
The Arlington County Democratic Committee process of endorsing School Board candidates, who are non-partisan in Virginia, through a caucus has recently been criticized by a pro-open-schools group Arlington Parents for Education, a number of self-identified Democrats, members of the Arlington branch of the NAACP and the Board’s newest member, Mary Kadera.
She follows in the footsteps of her predecessor as chair, Monique O’Grady, who announced when schools were still closed to most students that she would focus her “full and undivided attention” on reopening buildings until her tenure ended Dec. 31. Kadera officially took over O’Grady’s seat during the Jan. 6 School Board meeting.
When Kanninen assumed her seat last July, she said some of her priorities included improving staff compensation and navigating a “very challenging budget season” with the aim “to bring APS back to being a fiscally healthy and sustainable school system.”
One of the first acts in office for Gov. Glenn Younkin (R) was an executive order intended to let parents decided whether their children wear masks to school. But APS — along with Alexandria and Fairfax County, among other public school systems — says that masks are still required, despite the order.
APS argues that state and federal law still requires masks in schools and on buses, and thus the governor’s order is, essentially, invalid. Youngkin hinted that a legal clash may follow.
“The fact that that tweet came out from Arlington County within minutes of my executive order, what that tells me is that they have not listened to parents yet,” Youngkin said, when asked about it by a WTOP reporter. “We will use every resource within the governor’s authority to explore what we can do and will do in order to make sure parents’ rights are protected.”
On Twitter and in interviews, Arlington’s Democratic state lawmakers backed the local school system.
Governor Youngkin talks about parental involvement in schools. The overwhelmingly majority of Arlington parents want masks worn in schools. Does parental involvement only matter if the Governor agrees?
“No authority at all.” Delegate Patrick Hope of Arlington County responds to Governor Youngkin who said he may use state resources to try to force the county’s school system to comply with his order – which effectively removes school mask mandates. @WTOP@HopeforVirginiapic.twitter.com/Z6ZoFGQ9yp
Also issuing a statement of support for APS was a notable Arlington resident: White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
“Hi there. Arlington county parent here (don’t believe you are @GlennYoungkin but correct me if I am wrong),” President Biden’s primary spokesperson said on Twitter. “Thank you to @APSVirginia for standing up for our kids, teachers and administrators and their safety in the midst of a transmissible variant.”
Legality aside, Youngkin’s executive order suggested that, in practicality, requiring masks in schools is ineffective and fails to substantially reduce virus transmission.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends use of masks, and has published studies showing more Covid cases among schools without universal masking policies. But some have questioned the science behind the CDC’s guidance.
At last check, there were nearly 1,000 confirmed Covid cases among students and staff in the seven days following their return to school from winter break and a week of snow days.
What do you think: should APS stand firm on its masking policies, or do you support Youngkin’s call to make masks optional at schools?
Weekend Snowfall Total — From the Capital Weather Gang: “Observer at Reagan National Airport reports 2.6 inches, pushing Jan. total to 12.2″ – most since 2016 and more than double the norm. Most of the immediate area saw 1.5 to 3 inches.” [Twitter]
Long-time Hospital CEO Retiring — “Virginia Hospital Center ‘was quite a different place’ when Jim Cole arrived in 1985, he recalls… Now 37 years later, Cole is getting ready to retire from one of the area’s only independently owned hospitals — for real, this time after delaying his planned departure in 2020 to remain at the helm through the Covid-19 pandemic.” [Washington Business Journal]
‘Smart Restart APS’ Donates Masks — “Over the winter break, a bunch of other Arlington parents joined Headrick’s effort. They collected money and drove to Home Depots and hardware stores in three states to buy all the available masks they could.
This week, the group donated about 6,000 masks to APS. They will be distributed to all full-time and part-time school employees.” [Patch]
Fire Dept. Recruits Graduate — “After 30 weeks of hard work, ACFD Recruit Class 80 graduates today with 25 new Probationary FF/EMT’s.” [Twitter]
New Va. Gov. Inaugurated — “Virginia began a new chapter Saturday with the inauguration of Glenn Youngkin, the first Republican governor to take the oath of office in 12 years. In his inauguration speech, Youngkin promised a change in direction in the state, with shifts on COVID-19 policies, education, criminal justice and taxes. Youngkin was sworn in as the commonwealth’s 74th governor on the steps of the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond.” [NBC 4]
Fmr. Gov. Says Farewell — From Ralph and Pam Northam: “It has been the honor of our lifetimes to serve as your 73rd Governor and First Lady. From the bottom of our hearts–thank you, Virginia.” [Twitter]
Another Storm Possible This Week — “The European modeling system Monday morning showed a number of projections that would offer some snow but also had some that showed dry weather. On Sunday, one of the model runs from the American modeling system showed a snowstorm, then the next took it away. Monday morning’s run of the model has the storm just missing us to the southeast, but it’s close.” [Capital Weather Gang]
It’s Tuesday — A couple of brisk days are on tap. Today will be sunny, with a high near 39. West wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph. Sunrise at 7:23 a.m. and sunset at 5:14 p.m. Tomorrow will be partly sunny, with a high near 48. Southwest wind 13 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. [Weather.gov]
(Updated at 7:40 p.m.) Students and parents are in the middle of a tug-of-war between Arlington Public Schools and newly-inaugurated Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
One of the Republican’s first acts today (Saturday) after succeeding now-former Gov. Ralph Northam (D) was issuing eleven executive actions, including one that allows parents 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 is set to take effect next Monday, Jan. 24.
Youngkin’s order suggests that mask mandates have been ineffective at preventing the spread of COVID-19 in schools, citing incorrect mask usage and the use of low-quality cloth masks. It further suggests that schools instead focus on air filtration systems and other environmental mitigation measures.
Nonetheless APS, which has had a mask mandate for the entire school year, said tonight that the mandate is still in place on school grounds and on buses.
In a statement, APS said state law requires it to adhere to “any currently applicable mitigation strategies.” It also said that federal law requires masks on public transportation, like school buses.
From APS:
Arlington Public Schools will continue to require all staff and students to wear masks inside on school grounds and on buses, as part of our layered approach to safety. Universal mask use has proven effective in keeping COVID-19 transmission rates low in our schools and ensuring schools remain safe and open.
Arlington Public Schools implemented our mask requirement this school year prior to Governor Northam’s K-12 mask mandate, and we will continue to make decisions that prioritize the health, safety and wellbeing of our students and staff, following the guidance of local and national health professionals. Current law in Virginia, per SB1303, says: school divisions need to “provide such in-person instruction in a manner in which it adheres, to the maximum extent practicable, to any currently applicable mitigation strategies for early childhood care and education programs and elementary and secondary schools to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 that have been provided by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
The federal requirement from February 2, 2021, is still in place on all forms of public transportation. Anyone riding a school bus is therefore required to wear a mask when riding on our school buses to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Over the past week there have been just under 1,000 Covid cases identified by Arlington Public Schools — 850 among students, 125 among teachers and staff — according to the school system’s public Covid dashboard. APS has around 27,000 students.
Arlington County school bus (Photo courtesy Chris Rief)
(Updated at noon) Arlington Public Schools is bringing athletics back early and reducing quarantine periods, despite more than a thousand Covid cases reported among students and staff this past week.
Starting next week, the school system will adopt revised CDC guidance, Superintendent Francisco Durán wrote in an email to the school community Wednesday. The isolation period for staff members who test positive will be halved to five days. The new guidelines also reduced the quarantine period to five days for a student or staff member who is considered a close contact to someone who tested positive.
“Students who are exempt from quarantine (e.g., those with up-to-date vaccinations, are asymptomatic and are able to wear a mask) will be excluded and verified by Contact Tracers before being able to return to school,” Durán noted.
APS will still require a 10-day isolation period for students who test positive for COVID-19, despite the CDC’s recent change to guidelines allowing a five-day isolation for positive cases under certain conditions. That’s because APS is unable to ensure that “consistent physical distancing and mask protocols [are] in place at all times, including during meals.”
“Maintaining safe, consistent in-person learning is our priority,” Durán wrote. “APS will maintain in-person learning except in limited instances to address high transmission in a classroom or school. Switching any class or school to virtual learning–even for a short period of time–will be a last resort.”
There are 864 students and 183 employees who have tested positive for Covid over the past week, according to the APS Covid dashboard as of publication time. That compares to 56 positive student cases over a seven-day period just over a month ago, in early December.
Arlington is currently seeing its highest Covid hospitalization rate since January 2021. Nine people were hospitalized on Wednesday alone, according to Virginia Dept. of Health data. The seven-day moving average of daily hospitalizations is now just above four.
As teachers and community members expressed concerns about the surge in Covid cases over winter break, driven by the new Omicron variant, Durán committed to return in person. Last week’s snowstorms ended up cancelling school for the entire week, but students returned to classrooms on Monday.
While some in the community have urged more caution amid the Covid wave, others have advocated for schools and activities to remain open.
In a statement Monday, prior to Wednesday’s announcement, the pro-school-reopening group Arlington Parents for Education said that “APS should follow the CDC-recommended five days for isolations and quarantines instead of ten in order to significantly increase APS’ ability to staff schools and to reduce students’ days out of school.”
Arlington Parents for Education and more than 1,500 petition signers have also called for APS to resume athletic activities, which were “paused” for two weeks to start the new year, a move not mirrored by other local school systems.
In his email, Durán said that in-person athletics and extracurriculars returned early, on Wednesday, “following our current testing, vaccination and mask requirements.”
Only family members can watch events, Durán wrote in his email. Other limitations for spectators could apply based on facility.
The full message from Superintendent Durán is below.
Athletics Ban Not Consistent with County — “Arlington’s newest School Board member opened her tenure by intimating that, if the county school system’s ban on athletics and extracurricular activities is extended past its current Jan. 14 deadline or resurrected later, the county government should follow suit and shut down park programs for adults.” [Sun Gazette]
Universal Basic Income in Arlington? — “Every Arlingtonian, rich and poor alike, could be given $550 a month, leaving few families below the poverty line, if the property tax rate were tripled. The net income of a family of four living in a house worth less than $1.36 million would be higher, as this UBI dividend would exceed the increase in tax.” [Greater Greater Washington]
Yorktown Hockey is Undefeated — “In high-school club ice hockey action in recent days, the undefeated Yorktown Patriots (7-0) won two matches. Yorktown nipped Georgetown Prep, 2-1, then blanked the Langley Saxons, 5-0, in league play.” [Sun Gazette]
Local Dry January Deal — Ballston’s recently opened taqueria El Rey is offering up $1 zero-proof cocktails with meals, for those participating in Dry January. [Twitter]
Falls Church Jewelry Store Robbed — Falls Church Police are searching for two men who stole $200,000 to $300,000 worth of jewelry in an armed robbery of a jewelry store on W. Broad Street on Friday afternoon. [City of Falls Church]
Questionable Covid Testing Location in F.C. — “A COVID-19 testing company with a location in Falls Church is the subject of numerous complaints from across the U.S. about its practices.” [Tysons Reporter, USA Today]
Camera Discovered in Laundromat Restroom — A teen girl discovered a camera in the restroom of Surf ‘N’ Suds in Bailey’s Crossroads and Fairfax County Police need help identifying a man who was seen leaving an adjacent restroom at the time of the incident. [Fairfax County Police]
It’s Wednesday — Today will be sunny, with a high near 44. South wind 6 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Sunrise at 7:26 a.m. and sunset at 5:07 p.m. Tomorrow will be partly sunny, with a high near 46. [Weather.gov]
Jennifer Sauter-Price with R.E.A.D’s book bus (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
Kids dance around tables full of books outside of Arlington Science Focus Elementary School on an overcast December afternoon. There are stories in Spanish, books about Black history, and novels about being the next president, all waiting to be picked up and read.
And parked a few feet away from the book fair is a bright blue “book bus” with a dragon painted on the side.
In the middle of it all is “Pajama Mama,” aka Jennifer Sauter-Price, dressed in her best dog pajamas. She’s the executive director of the Arlington-based nonprofit R.E.A.D. with a mission of providing brand new books to young children who may not have access to them.
R.E.A.D stands for “read early, and daily” and it’s the brainchild of Sauter-Price.
“We want to help [kids] grow libraries and encourage their families to read to them on a daily basis,” she tells ARLnow.
There’s ample research that there’s immense benefits in constantly reading to kids prior to them entering kindergarten. It improves their vocabulary and helps them associate words with feelings along with a number of other benefits, studies show.
Sauter-Price’s R.E.A.D program is simple: Families sign up and get to choose one new book a month for each kid under the age of five in their family.
“It would be really easy for me to just hand them a book, but we learned that families are more engaged when they choose their own book,” says Sauter-Price, who is a mom herself and lives in the Arlington Forest neighborhood. “They feel more empowered.”
Currently, there are about 200 children enrolled.
The books available, Sauter-Price notes, are intentionally chosen to reflect Arlington’s community.
“We have a diverse population of young children here. We have kids who speak English, Spanish, Arabic, Mongolian,” she says. “I search high and low to find those books as well as one that have a diverse set of families.”
Two bilingual books inside of R.E.A.D’s book bus (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
These are what are called “mirror and window” books, ones that reflect the child themselves (mirror) and ones that show the community they live in (window).
Sauter-Price describes a time, pre-COVID, when she showed up to a community event with a book featuring a mom wearing a hijab.
“There was a group of Muslim moms and when one of them saw [the book], they started crying,” she says. “She was like, ‘I’ve never seen this before. Thank you.'”
When asked what are the most popular books, Sauter-Price says that’s universal.
“I would probably say anything about transportation or things that go ‘vroom’,” she laughs.
The book fairs across the county that Sauter-Price puts on, like the one held at Arlington Science Focus Elementary, are revenue generators for R.E.A.D, allowing her to buy more books for more families who are in need.
In 2021 alone, Sauter-Price says the fairs have done about $125,000 in sales, much of which goes back to the program. The hope is to double those sales numbers next year.
Community donations and grants also help to finance R.E.A.D. In the summer of 2019, the program received a $50,000 grant from the newspaper publisher Gannett to spruce up an old school bus.
R.E.A.D’s book bus (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
Sauter-Price drives this bus around, brings it to fairs, while families can also shop out of it. She always dress in pajamas because, she says, “it breaks down barriers.”
Future aspirations for R.E.A.D. are high. Sauter-Price just got her peddler’s license meaning she can do “pop-up” book fairs on weekends in commercial areas like Ballston and Clarendon. She’s planning to start doing that this month. Additionally, beginning sometime early next year, the nonprofit is partnering with Virginia Hospital Center to provide a bag of books to uninsured and underinsured moms-to-be.
If R.E.A.D. is able to reach all of those moms, Sauter-Price estimates that it could mean the program could be working with as many as 1,800 babies and young kids a year.
That’s okay by Sauter-Price, who says some of her best memories are reading to her own kids. While they are both grown now and likely don’t want their mom reading to them, reading remains a huge part of Sauter-Price’s life.
She says, “I just feel like my whole life has just been sort of leading to this.”
This feature article was funded by the ARLnow Press Club and was previously published in the Press Club’s weekend newsletter.
