School Board Advisory Committee Working Group

During the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school year, the School Board Advisory Committee Working Group will work with the school board and staff to evaluate the current School Board advisory committee structure, effectiveness, and alignment with strategic priorities and make recommendations for revision in accordance with the School Board’s charge:

Working Group – Final Recommendation

*A full report of the Working Group’s Work and Final Recommendation will be posted in early January

Highlights of Next Steps (Subject to Change)

Late December
- Initial revisions to School Board Policy B-3.6.30 School Board Advisory Committees made based on Working Group’s recommendation to the School Board. School Board will review and provide feedback
January 2026
- Policy Subcommittee will review School Board feedback on proposed revisions to Policy B-3.6.30 and consider adjustments to the policy
- Start of 30 day public comment on proposed revisions to Policy B-3.6.30

February
- End of public comment. Policy Subcommittee considers edits based on feedback
March
- School Board Info & Action on policy
April
- School Board develops Charges for each Advisory Council
May
- Publish Charges and launch application for Advisory Council

[email protected]

Email questions and feedback to [email protected]

Additional Information

To learn more about the current APS School Board Advisory Committee structure, please visit: https://www.apsva.us/citizen-advisory-groups/

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Introduction

The APS School Board welcomes active community engagement in the work of the school division. The School Board believes this input strengthens Arlington Public Schools and helps the system achieve its priorities. In that spirit, the School Board is assessing the current School Board advisory committee structure and alignment with the priorities, strategies and performance objectives in the strategic plan.

The School Board Advisory Committee Working Group will work with the school board and staff to evaluate the current School Board advisory committee structure, effectiveness, and alignment with strategic priorities and make recommendations for revision in accordance with the School Board’s charge:

School Board Charge

PDF Version

1. By June 1, 2025, provide the school board with a statement that describes the:

○ Purpose and value of School Board Advisory Committees

○ Role of School Board Advisory Committees and desired outcomes for the work of the advisory committees

2. Work collaboratively with APS staff to:

○ Evaluate the strengths, effectiveness and limitations of the current APS School Board advisory committee organizational structure.

3. By June 1, 2025, provide the school board with a recommendation for a proposed revision to the APS school board advisory committee structure with rationale

○ The working group will provide the community a draft of its proposed revision to the advisory committee structure by Spring 2025, such that the structure aligns with the priorities in the 2024-30 Strategic Plan; diverse perspectives from APS staff, families, students and community members are included; and committee recommendations are actionable and relevant. The working group will solicit community feedback and use that feedback to develop a recommendation to the school board that defines:

■ The name of each proposed school board advisory committee and a charge that aligns the work of the committee with at least one of the priorities in the 2024-30 Strategic Plan

■ The role and purpose of subcommittees and process for forming within each of the proposed school board advisory committees

■ Reporting structure and expectations for the committee’s work

■ A proposed membership composition (e.g. # of community members, staff, etc.) for each advisory committee

■ Roles and responsibilities of advisory committee members, including leadership on the committee (e.g. Chairs/Vice Chairs, etc.)

■ Length of term and term limits of committee members

4. By June 1, 2025, provide the school board with a recommendation on a transition process to the new advisory committee structure with rationale. The recommendation should include:

● A process, including a proposed timeline, for integrating or transitioning existing committee’s structure to its new organization with the aim to institute changes beginning in the 2025-26 school year unless the working group identifies barriers to do so.

Working Group Members

Community Members (12)

Todd Truitt	ACTL rep for Discovery Elementary – Math Subcommittee
Jenny Roahen Rizzo (Chair)	Previous Chair, ACTL and current member
John Giambalvo	Previous Chair, FAC
Cloe Chin	ACTL rep for Yorktown, previously served on ASEAC
Erik Sullivan	BAC rep
Mary Sanders	Current SHAB member
Lida Anestidou (Vice-Chair)	Current ACTL member – Science Subcommittee, previously served on BAC
Jamie McHenry	PTA President, Tuckahoe
Tola Atewologun	Parent, Long Branch Choose to not continue on Working Group in June 2025 for SY 2025-26
Sasha McNickle	Parent, Drew
Farah Eck	Parent, Alice West Fleet
Tannia Talento	Previous School Board member Resigned from Working Group on October 27, 2025

APS Staff (7)

Kerri Hirsch	Director of Curriculum & Instruction
Jeff Chambers	Director of Design & Construction
Andy Hawkins	Asst. Superintendent for Finance & Management Services
Dr. Kelly Krug	Director of Special Education, Secondary
Dr. Robin Wallin	School Health Services Coordinator
Katie Willet	Science Teacher, Williamsburg & Chair of Teachers Council for Instruction (TCI)
Melissa Hyatt	Instructional Technology Coordinator, Innovation Elementary

APS Students (3)

Naya Chopra	11th Grade HB-Woodlawn, member of ACTL – Educational Technology subcommittee, Student Advisory Board
Maron Gebremeskel	11th Grade, W-L, Student Advisory Board
Maya Strickland	12th Grade Yorktown, Student Advisory Board

Timeline

*See Meeting Materials tab for links to presentations, agendas, and related materials for each event listed below.

Date	Activity
September 24, 2024	School Board Work Session – School Board Advisory Committee Structure
October 4-20, 2024	Application Window to Apply to Working Group
November 14, 2024	Working Group appointed by School Board & Charge approved
November 19, 2024	Working Group Meeting #1
December 17, 2024	Working Group Meeting #2
January 21, 2025	Working Group Meeting #3
February 18, 2025	Working Group Meeting #4
February 25, 2025	School Board Work Session – Update on Working Group
March 18, 2025	Working Group Meeting #5
April 22, 2025	Working Group Meeting #6
May 20, 2025	Working Group Meeting #7
May 29, 2025	School Board Work Session- Update on Working Group
June 3, 2025	Working Group Meeting #8
Summer 2025	Update and feedback collected from current and past APS Advisory Committee Chairs/Co-Chairs and APS leadership
September 9, 2025	Working Group Meeting #9
September 6 – October 17, 2025	Community Engagement – Gather feedback from stakeholders on the Working Group’s Initial Proposal
October 28, 2025	Working Group Meeting #10
November 3, 2025	Working Group Meeting #11
November 18, 2025	School Board Work Session
December 2, 2025	Meeting #11 (Final Meeting)
Winter-Spring 2026	Policy & PIP Revision & Public Comment
Spring 2026	School Board vote to approve Policy & PIP’s
April-May 2026	School Board Charge & Application for Advisory Councils for 2026-27
May 2026	School Board begins appointments to Advisory Councils

Community Engagement

Working Group’s Initial Proposal – Community Presentation – Slide Deck (24 Sept 2025)

SURVEY (9/24 thru 10/15)

SURVEY – Complete by October 15.

FOCUS GROUPS (9/30 thru 10/17)

APS is conducting VIRTUAL focus group sessions via Zoom with parents, staff, students, and community members.
If interested in participating in an upcoming focus group session, please complete the FOCUS GROUP INTEREST FORM

COMMUNITY FORUMS

APS is conducting three VIRTUAL community forums to share the Working Group’s initial proposal, respond to any questions, and gather feedback
October 8 – 12:00 – 1:00 – Meeting Link (Interpretation is available is Arabic, Amharic, Spanish, Mongolian)
October 15 – 6:30-8:00 – Meeting Link (Session in Spanish with translation to English)
October 16 – 6:30-8:00 – Meeting Link (Interpretation is available is Arabic, Amharic, Spanish, Mongolian)

[email protected]