2023 Pre-Capital Improvement Plan (Pre-CIP) Report

Sept. 19, 2023 Update 

APS is pausing the Middle School Boundary Process and the Proposal to Relocate the Spanish Immersion Program until Fall 2024. The decision to pause this process is rooted in a strategic approach to optimize the planning and implementation of this significant undertaking. By aligning it with the concurrent high school boundary adjustments, staff will create an opportunity for a more coordinated and streamlined boundary process that considers the broader educational landscape.This approach also ensures that the boundary process is well-framed to support the launch of the robust secondary Academic Programming Pathways.

Delaying the implementation of this process until Fall 2026 allows staff to implement the changes for students entering both grades 6 and 9 by promoting continuity and providing a clear pathway for students as they transition between middle and high schools.

Staff will share additional information at the School Board Work Session on Sept. 26, 2023 at 10:45 a.m. (View Presentation)

For additional information or questions, please email engage@apsva.us or call and text 571-200-2770.

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APS is initiating a middle school boundary process to right size all middle school communities, maximize the use of all school facilities, and to be good stewards of taxpayer funds. Changes will go into effect for the 2025-26 school year, which includes a recommendation to move the Middle School Dual-Language Immersion Program from Gunston Middle School to Kenmore Middle School. In addition, this includes adjusting the middle school boundaries that will go into effect for the 2025-26 school year.

The data analysis shows and summarizes the considerations of relocating the immersion program to each one of the middle school facilities. Relocating the immersion program to Dorothy Hamm, Swanson, or Williamsburg would negatively impact transportation choices and APS Transportation services. If the immersion program is relocated to Jefferson or Kenmore, no improvements to transportation choices or APS Transportation services would be achieved.

None of the middle schools have the seats required to maintain a capacity utilization at or below 100%. As result of this analysis, the existence of the immersion program at any of the middle schools does not improve school capacity, transportation choices, or APS Transportation Services.

The School Board will vote on middle school boundary adjustments in December 2023.

View Appendix H Fall 2023 Middle School Boundary Recommendation Report in the Pre-CIP Report for details on how the proposal relates to each of the boundary considerations in the APS Boundary Policy.

Additional information on this process is available on the 2023 Middle School Boundary Process & Spanish Immersion Program Relocation webpage.

Included in the upcoming CIP direction for Fall 2023 is a recommendation to renovate one elementary school as soon as feasibly possible and to repurpose Nottingham Elementary School as swing space to temporarily accommodate students while their home school is being renovated.

Swing Space is a facility that can be used by a school while its building is undergoing extensive renovations. The space must consider the needs of elementary-aged students and ensure they have access to resources necessary for teaching and learning.

An elementary boundary process in 2025-26 will redistribute students to nearby schools effective for the 2026-27 school year. Swing space is defined as a facility that can be used by a school while its building is undergoing extensive renovations. The space considers the needs of elementary-aged students and ensures they have access to all the resources necessary for teaching and learning.

The School Board will vote on the FY 2025-34 CIP in June 2024. 

Sixty-one sites were suggested and evaluated against educational specifications and additional requirements determined by APS. Cost and complexity were used to further evaluate APS’s options. The full report, which recommends further study of swing space for an elementary school in need of renovations, may be found in Appendix J.

Nottingham was selected based on the following information:

• Nottingham’s 2022-23 enrollment is low, and its projected enrollment remains flat through 2027-28.
• By 2026, a projected 419 Nottingham students (PreK-5) would be reassigned to schools that are adjacent to Nottingham’s boundary in an elementary boundary process.
• Based on the 2018 study of walk zones, 140 Nottingham K-5 students reside in planning units that are within the walk zones for Discovery (13) and Tuckahoe (127).
• Nottingham has surrounding schools with open capacity to welcome reassigned students, limiting the number of students who must be reassigned from receiving schools to balance enrollment.
• Nottingham has five relocatable classrooms on their campus, with space to add more if needed for hosting a larger school population.
• Community members have raised a concern about needing additional school capacity during county processes on the Missing Middle and Plan Langston Boulevard. If enrollment in this area increases again, Nottingham could be returned to a neighborhood elementary school.

View Appendix J Swing Space Report and Appendix K Swing Space School Site Recommendation Report in the Pre-CIP Report for the rationale to select a specific school site.

Additional information on this process is available on the Proposal to Repurpose Nottingham Elementary School for Swing Space webpage.

The Superintendent recommends the School Board’s October 2023 CIP direction includes a plan for Phase 2 development of the Arlington Career Center Campus that achieves the following:

• Maintains maximum student capacity at 2,570 seats
• Repurposes the existing ACC building for the Montessori Public School of Arlington (MPSA)
• Demolishes MPSA (the Henry Building) and replaces it with green space

The FY 2023-32 CIP allocated placeholder funds for the second phase of development of the new Arlington Career Center (ACC) campus. The School Board’s CIP direction should confirm plans to redevelop the existing ACC building for the Montessori Public School of Arlington (MPSA) and demolish the current MPSA for additional field and green space. In addition, the following recommendations are detailed in this report.

The Pre-CIP also plans for the following items:

• Future elementary and high school boundary changes
• Proposed approach to define school program capacity
• Analysis showing Pre-K to Kindergarten enrollment does not improve Kindergarten projections
• Update on Project Labor Agreement
• Results of APS Initiatives Addressing Enrollment and Building Utilization (Appendix F)

APS staff will host multiple community engagement sessions to receive feedback on the Pre-CIP Report, which includes the proposal to repurpose Nottingham Elementary School for swing space, the 2023 Middle School Boundary Process, and the relocation of the Spanish Immersion Program to Kenmore from Gunston.

The goal is to make these community engagement sessions as collaborative as possible with the community. The emphasis will be to ensure the community is aware of these recommendations by confirming that the proposals are not final at this time and are still under review.

The feedback received during these community engagement sessions will be used to refine the proposals. This feedback will also be compiled and presented to the School Board for review before decisions are made on these proposals.

Community participation in these community engagement sessions is vital to shaping the final proposals that will be presented to the School Board and ensures the best interests of all community members are represented throughout the process.

The following table lists the upcoming community engagement sessions that includes two sessions specifically focused on the repurposing of Nottingham Elementary School and the relocation of the Spanish Immersion Program.

Information on these proposals is available on the Current and Upcoming Initiatives section of the Engage with APS webpage.

For additional information or questions on these proposals and the upcoming community engagement sessions, please contact engage@apsva.us.

APS staff will host multiple community engagement sessions to receive feedback on the Pre-CIP Report, which includes the proposal to repurpose Nottingham Elementary School for swing space, the 2023 Middle School Boundary Process, and the relocation of the Spanish Immersion Program to Kenmore from Gunston.

The goal is to make these community engagement sessions as collaborative as possible with the community. The emphasis will be to ensure the community is aware of these recommendations by confirming that the proposals are not final at this time and are still under review.

The following are the materials from the community table sessions:

Community Table Session One

• Meeting Presentation
• Meeting Recordings
  • General Session
  • Long-Range Renovation Plan for Existing School Facilities
  • Swing Space Project Report Breakout Session
  • Middle School Boundaries & Spanish Immersion Program Move Breakout Session

Community Table Session Two (Held in person at Kenmore)

• Meeting Presentation

Community Table Session Three – Proposal to Relocate the Spanish Immersion Program

• Meeting Presentation
• Meeting Recording

Community Table Session Four: Repurposing Nottingham Elementary School for Swing Space

• Sept. 11 | 6 – 7:30 p.m. | Virtual Meeting (Link to Participate)
• Meeting Presentation
• Meeting Recording

Community Table Sessions Questions & Answers

• Long-Range Renovation Plan and Swing Space Q&A Posted (partial, as of 8/28)
• Middle School Boundaries & Spanish Immersion Program Q&A Posted (partial, as of 8/25)
• More Q&A from Community Table Sessions

Summer 2023

• June 29, 2023: School Board Work Session on the Pre-Planning for the Capital Improvement Plan (View Presentation | Watch the Meeting Recording)
• July 31, 2023 6-8pm: Community Table Session #1 (Virtual)
• August 22, 2023 6-8pm: Community Table Session #2 (in person) Kenmore Middle School

Fall 2023

• September 5, 2023 6-7:30pm: Community Meeting Session #3 Relocation of MS Immersion Program to Kenmore (Virtual) – postponed
• September 11, 2023 6-7:30pm: Community Meeting Session #4 Repurposing Nottingham elementary School for Swing Space (Virtual)
• November 9, 2023: The Proposed FY 2025-34 CIP Direction is Presented to the School Board as an Information Item**
• December 14, 2023: The School Board Votes on the FY 2025-34 CIP Direction**

Spring 2024

• May 26, 2024: Present the Superintendent’s Proposed FY 2025-34 CIP
• May 30, 2024: School Board Work Session on the Superintendent’s Proposed FY 2025-34 CIP
• June 6, 2024: Present the School Board’s Proposed FY 2025-34 CIP
• June 11, 2024: School Board Public Hearing on the School Board’s Proposed FY 2025-34 CIP
• June 20, 2024: School Board Votes on the FY 2025-34 CIP

Fall 2024

• November 7, 2024: Arlington Residents Vote on the School Bond Referendum

*These Dates Are Subject to Change
**This Date Has Been Changed From a Date Previously Shared With the Community

View the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for the Pre-CIP Report, which includes general information on the report, balancing middle school enrollment, relocating the Spanish Immersion Program, and repurposing Nottingham Elementary School as swing space. As new information becomes available, the questions will be updated and the date they were updated will be listed.

View the Pre-CIP Report FAQ
View the MS Boundaries/Spanish Immersion Move FAQ
View the Nottingham Swing Space FAQ

View the emails sent to APS Engage and the School Board through September 15, which includes feedback from the public on the Pre-CIP Report recommendations.

View the Emails to APS Engage and the School Board

View the Questions from the School Board to staff about the Pre-CIP Report, which includes general information on the report, balancing middle school enrollment, relocating the Spanish Immersion Program, and elementary swing space. As new information becomes available, the document will be updated and the date they were updated will be listed.

FY 2023 PreCIP School Board Questions 8.25.23

FY 2023 PreCIP School Board Questions 08.31.23

FY 2023 PreCIP School Board Questions 09.08.23

FY 2023 PreCIP School Board Questions 09.15.23

Background

Per guidance from the Arlington School Board at the final SY2022-2023 meeting in June 2023, a sub-committee of FAC members met for three virtual sessions from July – August 2023 to review the Arlington Public Schools (APS) Pre-Capital Improvement Plan (Pre-CIP) Report. Additionally, members of FAC attended community table sessions from July – September 2023. APS staff hosted these sessions to ensure transparency and dissemination of Pre-CIP information to the public, and to allow for comments and questions prior to an APS request for FY 2025-34 CIP guidance from the Board.

The Pre-CIP Findings and Recommendations letter represents the FAC’s overall assessment of each major aspect of the Pre-CIP and includes recommendations for further exploration or improvement. Areas of dissent that do not align with overall FAC findings were addressed through additional requests for information to ensure that Member concerns are communicated to the Board.

Overall Assessment

In general terms, FAC concurs with APS recommendations for Boundary Planning and Rebalancing, including movement of the Immersion program out of Gunston to alleviate overcrowding; the framework for the Long-Range Plan to renovate existing facilities, including swing space for renovation projects; and the associated policy changes and studies (environmental, Minor Construction/Major Maintenance, school capacity, etc.) designated for review and revision over the next CIP cycle. APS recommendations are in keeping with the 2018-2019 FAC Annual Report, which highlighted the need for long-term planning, swing space for students during renovations, the need for a whole-of-APS boundary process, and the need for accurate forecasting data to support the facility and boundary planning processes. These recommendations also account for updated post-pandemic capacity projections and the recommendations by FAC in the 2022-2023 Annual Report.

View the FAC Pre-CIP Findings & Recommendations Letter

For additional information on the FAC, visit the Advisory Council on School Facilities and Capital Programs webpage.

Overall Assessment

We write on behalf of the Joint Facilities Advisory Commission (“JFAC”) to share our initial recommendations regarding APS 2023 Pre-Capital Improvement Plan Report (“Pre-CIP Report”) and the Superintendent’s recommended actions within the report. Our intention was to respond to the parts of the Pre-CIP Report and the Superintendent’s recommendations1 within that report that and align previous JFAC discussions and are relevant to our charge and mission as a joint APS and ACG county-wide commission that works to take into account the needs and perspective of all of Arlington. These recommendations were unanimously approved in substance at JFAC’s September 27, 2023 meeting.

As a general matter, JFAC lacks all the information needed to determine whether the Superintendent’s recommendations outlined in the Pre-CIP Report are well-supported by data, whether they address APS’ highest-priority facilities needs, and whether they are consistent with APS’ financial constraints. In particular, JFAC lacks information about which schools will be identified as needing renovations by the Long-Range Plan to Renovate Existing School Facilities Report (“Long-Range Renovation Report”), how much those projects will cost, and what alternatives have been considered. JFAC will issue further recommendations and comments after the Long-Range Renovation Report is issued.

Set forth below are JFAC’s recommendations on four aspects of the Pre-CIP Report:

• The proposal to renovate at least one school as soon as feasible and repurpose Nottingham Elementary as swing space
• The proposal to proceed with phase 2 of the Arlington Career Center (“ACC”) project
• The ongoing collaboration between APS and Arlington County
• The need for long-range planning and flexibility in light of budget constraints.

View the JFAC Pre-CIP Report Recommendations Letter

For additional information on the JFAC, visit the Joint Facilities Advisory Commission webpage.