Arlington Public Schools

APS To Distribute Meals At 21 Schools As Local Food Need Rises

By Joseph Ramos

Arlington Public Schools will distribute meals at 21 of its schools during distance learning, up from its current nine.

The expansion comes as pandemic-related food insecurity rises in the county.

All APS students can pick up lunch at the new locations. Those who qualify for free- and reduced-price meals will continue to receive them, while those who do not qualify must pay as they would in a normal year.

“We are making it safe and convenient for all students and families to pick up meals while in distance learning and encourage all students to come to our meal sites, get fresh air, see friends, and take a break while picking up meals,” Amy Maclosky, director of APS Food and Nutrition Services, said in a press release.

Five of the distributing schools also meet the income requirement to qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision, a program run by the federal Food and Nutrition Service.

Under the provision, all students at Barcroft, Barrett, Carlin, Drew and Randolph elementary schools will receive free breakfast and lunch. Students’ families will not have to individually apply for these meals.

The fall grab-and-go meal distribution will begin on the first day of (remote) school: Tuesday, Sept. 8. Summer meal pick-up service, meanwhile, will end on Friday. More from an email to APS families:

APS will be expanding the grab-and-go meal distribution locations from the current 9 locations to 21 schools and adjusting meal services for the new school year, beginning Tues, Sept. 8, when APS begins operating under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).The last day for the APS summer grab-and-go meals service is Fri, Aug. 28.

Families who pick up meals on Fri, Aug. 28 will receive breakfast and lunch for Sat, Aug. 29 and Mon, Aug. 31. There will be no meal service Aug. 31-Sept. 7. Meal service will resume on Tue, Sept. 8 under NSLP, APS is committed to ensuring that ALL students, ages 2-18, can easily access healthy, nutritious meals.

As of last Thursday, the school system said it had served 358,512 meals to students since schools closed on March 16.

The expansion of APS meal pick-up sites is going into effect amid an increase in local food need.

During a special meeting of the Arlington County Board yesterday, Anita Friedman, director of Arlington’s Department of Human Services (DHS), said there has been an increase in households seeking aid from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

“Between February and May of 2020, Arlington County saw an 84% increase in SNAP applications,” Friedman said. “We are basically hovering around double the amount of applications that we had prior to COVID, although we’re down from the peak that occurred in April.”

Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) announced on August 20 that, when comparing the five months before and after the pandemic’s start, it has seen a 45% increase in families being referred to AFAC by social workers.

AFAC said it has served 33% more families during that time period — 5,054 families consisting of 12,306 individuals.

“When grocery store shelves were empty at the start of the pandemic, AFAC was the sole source of food for many in our community,” AFAC said in a press release. “Since many low-income jobs have not returned, families are visiting AFAC more frequently for much needed food.”

At Tuesday’s Board meeting, Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz proposed a new Food Security Coordinator position, to be created within the Dept. of Human Services to address food insecurity. He also called for a pilot program that would distribute grocery gift cards to families known to be having trouble accessing food.

School Board Adopts First Ever APS Equity Policy

By Joseph Ramos

The School Board adopted Arlington Public Schools’ first ever equity policy during its meeting last week.

The policy, passed in a 5-0 vote, includes an overall equity belief statement and identifies governance, education, the workforce, and operations as key areas for APS to practice equity in.

“Equity is tied to everything that we do, and we are committed to eliminating inequitable practices in cultivating the unique gifts, talents and interests of every student so that success and failure are no longer predictable by student identity such as race, culture, socioeconomics, gender, or any other social factor,” Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer Arron Gregory said at the August 20 meeting, quoting the belief statement.

The School Board first directed APS to create an equity policy in August 2018. After two years of drafting and revisions based on APS and community feedback, the policy will now help guide APS action relating to inclusion, equity and diversity.

“Having this as an official policy is just part of the work that we need to do,” Superintendent Francisco Durán said in the meeting. “Moving forward to having an equity mindset, where we’re actually changing our practices and our actions and our thinking is really what we need to be moving forward with, and we are.”

The policy follows reported racial disparities in standardized testing results and student suspension rates within APS. The U.S. Department of Justice has previously alleged that APS provided inadequate help for students learning English.

Gregory said APS, when developing the policy, accounted for such disparities.

“APS acknowledged the historical and current impact of bias, prejudice and discrimination, and is implementing this equity policy, and subsequent implementation procedures, to address the impact discrimination has had on students and staff,” he said.

Monique O’Grady, Chair of the School Board, said the equity policy can help solve such issues if it is followed.

“[The policy] will help us make decisions that can help all students reach their highest potential without placing opportunity gaps in their way,” O’Grady said. “This is necessary to continue addressing disparities that exist in our country, in our state, and, yes, even in our own system.”

Photo via Arlington Public Schools

Before Working in the White House, Kellyanne Conway Did Some Work for Arlington Public Schools

By ARLnow.com

Kellyanne Conway, senior advisor to President Trump, announced last night that she will be leaving the White House at the end of the month to attend to family matters.

Prior to her involvement in the Trump campaign and administration, Conway — a D.C. resident — was a consultant and pollster. Her financial disclosure includes prior work for organizations like the American Conservative Union, National Rifle Association, Tea Party Patriots — and Arlington Public Schools.

“Her company did do work for us a few years before she worked on the Trump campaign,” APS spokesman Frank Bellavia confirmed to ARLnow. “Her company did our climate survey which was the predecessor to the Your Voice Matters Survey.”

One publicly-posted document shows some of the work she did for the school system.

In 2014, two years before Conway joined the Trump campaign, her firm The polling company, inc./WomanTrend conducted the APS Community Satisfaction Survey, writing in an executive summary of the poll’s findings that APS “earns high marks across-the-board.”

“90% of parents, 85% of staff members, and 79% of community members give the public schools in Arlington either an ‘A – outstanding’ or ‘B – very good’ grade,” Conway wrote to then-Superintendent Dr. Patrick Murphy. Conway also pointed out that most APS staff were happy with their level of compensation and that 18% of APS students had been bullied during the past school year, among other key findings.

Conway was paid in excess of $5,000 in a year for her work with Arlington Public Schools, according to her 2017 executive branch financial disclosure, though an exact figure was not given.

APS appears to be the only public school system in Conway’s financial disclosure, as compiled by ProPublica. The list also includes one local university: Catholic University of America.

Photo via Gage Skidmore/Flickr

APS Says Eventual In-Person Return Will Be Phased

By Joseph Ramos

Arlington Public Schools says any in-person return to classrooms will be phased, bringing back certain student groups before others.

That was revealed in a School Talk message sent to APS families on Tuesday. Officials also announced plans to help connect working families in need of childcare during remote schooling with local options.

The email, sent by Superintendent Francisco Durán, said students with disabilities would be the first to return once APS determines that it’s safe to resume some in-person instruction. Students in Pre-K through 3rd grade, as well as English Learner students, would phase in next, followed by all other students who opt in to the hybrid model of two in-person instruction days per week.

To decide when a hybrid model can safely begin, APS is looking at metrics like family and employee preferences, global availability of PPE and custodial supplies, and COVID-19 health metrics at local to national levels, according to APS spokesman Frank Bellavia.

“As we prepare for distance learning, I want to reiterate that we remain in close contact with state health officials and the Arlington County Public Health Division to monitor health data and evaluate opportunities to gradually phase in hybrid, in-person instruction,” Durán wrote. “I will notify you well in advance as plans progress and circumstances change.”

The letter also said Arlington County’s Department of Human Services (DHS) has identified 328 available slots in childcare centers and family day care homes located throughout the county.

These facilities are not affiliated with APS and families would have to pay to send their children there. The department is currently looking for additional slots and ways to expand options for low-income families.

“APS is providing childcare for staff only in our buildings. We are not providing childcare for families in our facilities,” Bellavia said. “Instead, APS is working with Arlington County to identify current childcare centers and in-home childcare facilities that can accommodate additional children.”

DHS is working for a way to prioritize children and families with the highest need when filling these slots, according to Bellavia.

More from Durán’s letter:

We know childcare is a major challenge for working families. We are working with the County to make some options available. The Department of Human Services has been working to expand availability among existing childcare providers, encouraging closed centers to reopen, and helping potential providers overcome obstacles such as licensing and land use processes. Through this work, DHS has identified more than 300 available slots through existing providers, based on numbers reported at the end of July:

  • Childcare Centers (63 total): 32 currently open with approximately 145 slots available
  • Family Day Care Homes (120 total): 109 currently open with approximately 183 slots available

More than 20 of these providers have indicated interest in expanding their hours and age ranges to accommodate school-aged children. DHS is supporting those efforts and creating a process to prioritize available slots to support children and families with the highest need. We are also working with the YMCA and other local non-profits and to expand options for low-income families. More details and how families can access these childcare options will be communicated through APS and the County as this work progresses.

The new school year is set to start online only, on Tuesday, Sept. 8. In July, Durán said he hoped to start transitioning students back in-person instruction in October.

Staff photo by Jay Westcott

School ‘Victory Gardens’ Used To Grow Food For Local Pantries

By Joseph Ramos
1/7

Garden space at Arlington Public Schools is being used to grow produce for local pantries.

When schools closed for the academic year in March, the seeds were planted for victory gardens to grow in the place of classroom gardens.

Now, fresh produce like lettuce, peppers and tomatoes fill soil at Wakefield High School, Thomas Jefferson Middle School, Hoffman-Boston Elementary and Tuckahoe Elementary.

APS is partnered with Arlington Friends of Urban Agriculture (FOUA) and Virginia Tech’s Arlington Virginia Cooperative Extension to maintain these gardens and organize volunteers.

“The community response has been amazing,” Emily Landsman, an FOUA board member, said in a press release. “The garden coordinators and school communities wanted to continue growing even though the schools were closed. To date, we have recruited over 70 volunteers and several Master Gardeners to assist the APS Garden Coordinators, and have donated over 500 pounds of fresh produce.”

The gardens were created as food pantries face the loss of key volunteers and the D.C. region sees increasing amounts of people in hunger as the area’s economy struggles.

FOUA’s goal is to grow 2,500 pounds of produce to donate to local food pantries. Area pantries where food is being donated include those at Bon Air Baptist Church and Columbia Baptist Church.

Local pantries have also received over 2,500 pounds of fresh produce from growing efforts in residential neighborhoods, churches and schools, according to FOUA.

For those who want to donate, Rock Spring Congregational church accepts produce donations on Mondays and Thursdays from noon-2 p.m. and Clarendon Presbyterian Church is holding a monthly food drive to help Arlington’s homeless population.

FOUA is currently seeking experienced volunteers to help in the gardens for one to four hours a week.

Photos via Arlington Friends of Urban Agriculture

APS Expands Student Device Program to All Grades

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Public Schools is expanding its “one-to-one” digital device program to students in kindergarten, first grade and second grade.

K-2 students will be getting Apple iPads from the school system this fall, helping to assist with remote learning. APS is also buying new iPads and MacBook Air laptops to replace aging devices for older students.

In all, the school system is ordering 11,312 Apple devices, including 7,114 iPads for elementary students, 2,174 iPads for middle school students, and 2,024 MacBooks for high school students, a school spokesman tells ARLnow.

“We are providing devices for all students this year,” said Frank Bellavia. “Previously only students in grades 3-12 received devices.”

The program for supplying school-owned digital devices to students is popular with students but controversial among some parents. During the pandemic, however, it has given students from families of all income levels an opportunity to participate in electronic learning from home.

Superintendent Francisco Durán provided additional information about the new devices in a School Talk email to families last night.

The Department of Information Services is hard at work getting the students’ devices ready for the start of school. This year, APS is expanding the 1:1 program to include all students, grades PreK-12. Students in grades PreK-8 will receive iPads; middle school students will also receive iPad cases with keyboards; and students in grades 9-12 will receive Macbook Airs. When combined with our enrollment growth, APS will be providing devices to almost 10,000 additional students this year, in addition to providing middle school students with keyboard cases. As you might imagine, vendors are having difficulties filling orders quickly. Fortunately, APS placed its orders early:

  • The iPads have all arrived and are currently being set up.
  • We have received some of the MacBook Airs, and expect the rest to ship shortly along with the keyboard cases for 6th-grade students.
  • Keyboard cases for the 7th and 8th-grade students should arrive before the start of the 2nd quarter.
  • Depending on when shipments arrive from our vendors, 6th and 9th grade students may need to start the year with their existing devices. The goal is to have all devices ready by the end of August. If your student does not already have a device, you will receive information from your school in the next few weeks about how and where to pick up the device and learning tools for your student.

File photo

APS Plans On Still Paying Staff Who Cannot Telework

By Joseph Ramos

Arlington Public Schools is planning on paying workers whose job cannot be moved to telework through at least the first academic quarter, which ends on November 2.

Superintendent Francisco Durán laid out plans at the July 30 School Board meeting to have bus drivers and attendants, custodians, food service workers and Extended Day staff receive pay and a regular schedule during full-time distance learning.

“We honor and value all of our employees, and to strive and retain them as an excellent workforce during these unprecedented times, I am recommending that we continue to pay these employees throughout the first quarter of the school year… while we assess our long-term needs based on the changing situation and whether or not we return in hybrid,” Durán said in the meeting.

Durán also listed goals for shifting these staff members to different, temporary roles while APS buildings are closed.

New roles could include “providing direct support to connect with students and families regarding access and engagement” and aiding in “virtual social-emotional learning student activities and support,” slides in Durán’s presentation said.

Some Extended Day staff will also provide childcare for teachers and staff at cost in designated school facilities.

Paying these workers is estimated to cost $3,072,000 for the entire first quarter. Bus drivers and attendants are already included in APS’s Fiscal Year 2021 adopted budget, so are costs from Extended Day and food service employees.

Durán said this expense can be mitigated by revenue from the services that staff would provide, as well as from federal funds.

“This cost may be partially reduced for those who may provide childcare and meals,” Durán said. “Fees [for childcare] would cover the cost of staff providing childcare. Revenue and federal reimbursement would cover the cost of the food service staff working to provide meals to students.”

APS is now contacting impacted staff to clarify plans and next steps. Schools have been closed since March 13.

Photo via Arlington Public Schools

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Storm Results in Minor Damage — Isaias only caused minor damage in Arlington as it roared past the D.C. area as a tropical storm. Arlington received about 2 inches of rain and some gusty winds as the storm passed. The rain did cause Four Mile Run to top its banks and cover the bike path near Carlin Springs Road. [Twitter]

Thousands of Local Renters Seeking Help — Arlington County “has been besieged with requests for help — in the eight months before the county declared an emergency because of the pandemic, her division received 821 requests for financial- and eviction-prevention assistance. Between March and May, that number was 2,378. The county hired temporary workers to supplement the county workers, who are working from home, and is trying to assist residents, some of whom don’t have Internet access and must rely on sending and receiving forms by mail.” [Washington Post]

Lots of Retail Rent Not Getting Paid — “Retail tenants have been hardest hit during the pandemic, across the board and for JBG Smith. The company collected 58% of rent due from those tenants in the second quarter, compared with nearly 99% for office and 98.5% for multifamily… JBG Smith is exploring the possibility of incorporating ghost kitchens, or food preparation facilities for delivery-only meals, to fill some of the void created by empty retail spaces as a temporary measure.” [Washington Business Journal]

Arlington GOP vs. WaPo Reporter — The Arlington County Republican Committee, in response to a Washington Post article about its chairman’s social media posts, posted the following on Twitter last night: “#FakeNews opinion columnist @psullivan1 was forced to change her slanderous headline… She apologizes for Communist China, but falls all over herself for a headline. lol, Peopermint Patti” [Twitter]

This One Time, Not at Band Camp — “APS has decided to cancel all August activities until further notice. The WL marching band camp for 2020 has been canceled.” [Twitter]

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Dozens March for Racial Justice — “A group of about 100 people marched more than three miles on a hot August afternoon through Arlington demanding justice for victims of police brutality and calling on the county’s elected officials to bring police reform to the county.” [Patch]

Police Investigating More KKK Stickers — “Stickers that appear to promote the Ku Klux Klan have been found on traffic signs and utility boxes in Arlington over the past month, Arlington police said… They were found between July 2 and 28 in four locations, mostly in the Yorktown neighborhood, on the back of traffic signs and on a utility box.” [Washington Post]

Big Power Outage on Saturday — “A power outage in South Arlington has about 3,000 customers without power, according to Dominion Energy. The outage is affecting several neighborhoods between Columbia Pike and Interstate 395, including Arlington Mill, Columbia Forest, Douglas Park, and Nauck.” [WJLA]

Parents Rally Against School Plan — “All 12 school jurisdictions in the D.C. area have announced their intentions to start the 2020-2021 school year virtually, and not all parents are pleased with that decision. Vienna, Va. resident Jill Gartin rallied with other parents and students today at Arlington district headquarters to make their voices heard… ‘It’s been awful because I have five kids running on one wifi. It’s draining and the kids are miserable.'” [WJLA]

Ribbon Cutting for Vida — The Arlington Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony last week for Vida Fitness’ new Ballston location, its first outside of D.C. It’s only the second ribbon cutting pictured on the Chamber’s Instagram account (the first was Bowlero in Crystal City) since the pandemic started. [Instagram]

Meridian Pint Fighting for Survival — “As you all may have heard, there is a possibility we may have to permanently close our doors. With the effects of Covid-19 the restaurant industry is feeling an enormous impact, Meridian Pint is no exception. We did get a Payroll Protection Loan but those funds have since been fully depleted. We are asking for your help.” [Facebook]

Nearby: MoCo May Reinstate Restrictions — “COVID-19 cases have been increasing across the state while Montgomery County’s have plateaued to about 70 to 80 new cases a day. But now officials are considering whether to reinstate some restrictions to try to decrease the virus’s spread and reduce cases.” [Bethesda Magazine]

Yes, But Where’s *This* Story? — Wondering why something that happened over the weekend was not included in Morning notes? We may be planning to cover it later today. Or, if it’s something that we might not know about, you can tell us about it for potential future coverage.

Flickr pool photo by John Sonderman

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Trash Collection Delays — “Due to truck breakdowns, some residential trash/recycling routes were not completed yesterday and today. If your trash and/or recycling carts have not been emptied, please leave them at the curb for collection.” [Arlington County]

BLM Event Planned on Saturday — The group Arlington for Justice is holding a March for Black Lives on Saturday from 4-6 p.m. The event will start at the Charles Drew Community Center in Green Valley (3500 23rd Street S.). [Facebook]

Pro-School Opening Group Planning Rally — The group Arlington Parents for Education is planning a rally in support of opening Northern Virginia schools in the fall. The event is planned from 9-10 a.m. Saturday at Arlington Public Schools headquarters (2100 Washington Blvd). “Wear green. Social distance and wear masks. Bring banners and friends & families who support this cause,” the group says. [Twitter]

Marymount Offers to Host Int’l Students — Marymount University is currently planning to bring students back to campus in the fall, including international students. With Immigration and Customs Enforcement not allowing international students to enter the country if their school is operating entirely online, Marymount is also offering to host international students from other schools. [Press Release]

Arlington Ranks High for Single Homeownership — A new set of rankings from the website SmartAsset puts Arlington at No. 25 for places “where singles are increasingly choosing to buy over rent.” [SmartAsset]

Startup CEO Facing SEC Lawsuit, Too — “Former Trustify CEO Danny Boice is accused of spending millions of investors’ dollars on private jet flights, vacations, jewelry and mortgage payments on a beach house as part of what’s alleged to be an $18.5 million fraudulent scheme, according to a lawsuit the Securities and Exchange Commission filed Friday against both Boice and Trustify Inc.” [Washington Business Journal]

Petition Asks Arlington Schools to Ditch Microsoft Teams and Use Zoom Instead

By Vernon Miles

(Updated at 2:45 p.m.) Arlington Public Schools is using Microsoft Teams to facilitate its online learning and some users dislike it so much they’ve started a Change.org petition to try to get APS to use Zoom instead.

“The foundation of any good virtual program rests on the video conferencing platform(s) used,” the petition organizers said. “From our experience this past spring, Microsoft Teams was not an accessible or user-friendly solution for successful remote learning. We would like to bring your attention to the issues many of us had with Microsoft Teams and implore you to make a change.”

APS is starting the school year in September with distance learning only, making the choice of software a more weighty decision than it otherwise might be. Unlike APS, Fairfax County Public Schools attempted to teach new material via online instruction in the spring — the effort proved disastrous due to technology challenges.

The petition says Arlington teachers have had issues with getting students into the virtual rooms, which the petition noted as being among the most basic requirement for a functional online learning system.

“Getting onto their online class meetings should be as easy as walking into a school building,” the petition said. “If it is not, then it is an inequitable, non-accessible system. We have heard story after story from both teachers and families of students not able to access class meetings on Teams (despite setting everything up as directed and in many cases having made it onto calls without issue in the past).  Getting on the class calls easily is the most basic requirement in making a synchronous program viable.”

The petition also argues that Zoom has superior sound blocking and video quality to Microsoft Teams, and that parents are more familiar with using Zoom than Microsoft Teams.

“While APS banned teachers from using Zoom for APS business, parents immediately started hosting virtual playdates and class meetings on Zoom,” the petition said. “Zoom is now used for the majority of online courses, tutoring sessions (many with APS teachers), and camps our county’s children are attending. Playdates, happy hours, and parent meetings are happening on Zoom.”

While ranking which video conference system is best tends to be subjective and outside the purview of a local news organization, both have benefits and certain unique features.

The school system, for its part, says Microsoft Teams fit its needs better than Zoom.

“APS uses Microsoft Teams to support a wide variety of instructional functions,” APS said on its website. “For example, while much of the digital coursework is provided through Canvas, videoconferencing is conducted through Microsoft Teams.”

“When the Dept. of Information Services was looking at video conferencing solutions for APS, we included Zoom in our research. We concluded that Zoom was not a good solution for APS,” school spokesman Frank Bellavia told ARLnow. “There were privacy and security concerns with [Zoom]. In addition, shifting to the paid model of Zoom would add a financial burden to the division in a time of very tight budgets. We also want to be sure that teachers aren’t asked to learn multiple tools.”

Bellavia added that Microsoft has been responsive to school needs.

“Microsoft had listened to feedback from educators and is making several improvements to better align Teams with educational needs,” he said. “They are expanding the screen to support 49 faces at the same time this fall. Additionally, later this year they will be rolling out updates such as breakout sessions which is a much-requested feature to support small group instruction, attendance, data reporting, etc.”

As of Monday afternoon the petition sits at 240 signers with a goal of 500.

Top photo by Jay Westcott, petition photo via Change.org

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