Each year Arlington SEPTA asks each School Board candidate questions relating to special education and shares their unedited answers for your information. Arlington SEPTA is a non-partisan organization and does not endorse specific candidates. Instead we provide this information for our community so each individual can make an informed decision.
This year there are two seats opening on the Arlington County School Board as Cristina Diaz-Torres and David Priddy are not seeking re-election. Four candidates will be on the ballot (in order of last name):
Kathleen A. Clark
Zuraya Tapia-Hadley
James Vell Rives IV
Paul C. Weiss
Click on each question below to view responses from each candidate listed in alphabetical order by the candidates’ last names. Or to see the full set of each candidate’s responses here:
Kathleen Clark’s SEPTA Questionnaire Response
Zuraya Tapia-Hadley’s SEPTA Questionnaire Response
James Vell Rives’ SEPTA Questionnaire Response
Paul C. Weiss’ SEPTA Questionnaire Response
Questions
QUESTION 10. How will you engage with the disability community and/or SEPTA if you are elected?
School Board Candidate Questionnaire Responses by Question
Question 1: Please describe your experience working with or on behalf of children with disabilities. How will this experience impact your work on the School Board?
Kathleen Clark:
On a personal note, I have 3 children, two of whom have disabilities and are on the Autism Spectrum. I’ve been volunteering in classrooms since my oldest was 2 years-old in one of APS’s Early Childhood Intervention Programs.
For the last 6 years, I have been actively involved with the Special Education PTA [SEPTA] in a variety of roles, including President of SEPTA during COVID. During the Strategic Plan work (Fall 2023-Spring 2024), I served as Vice Chair and shared my perspective as a parent and advocate within the disability community. My focus has been and always will be on:
- meeting our students where they are,
- presuming competence in our students and providing ALL students access to educational opportunities,
- prioritizing inclusive classrooms and culture in our schools.
Zuraya Tapia-Hadley
My first experience with Special Education in school was as a child with a friend who was deaf. In our class, we had an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter working alongside the core teacher signing the lessons. The letters of the alphabet displayed along the classroom wall also included the corresponding ASL letters and I first learned to sign by reading what I saw around the classroom and observing my teacher. In music and chorus, we didn’t just learn to sing the song, we also learned to sign them. In my view, this was a great school environment to grow up in, and I want the same for all kids in Arlington Public Schools (APS).
I have a history of over 20 years as an advocate for equity and inclusion. As part of this advocacy I have worked with a segment of the student population with special needs and disabilities: Latino families and children. While only 11% of the population in Virginia is Latino, Hispanic students comprise 15% of the students with disabilities in the state, per the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) of the U.S. Secretary of Education.
What I have learned from speaking with families with students with disabilities is:
- It is important to always test assessment methods and exams to ensure that tests are not inadvertently biased, but rather linguistically and culturally relevant to students. For example, assessing English language learners only in English puts those students at a disadvantage.
This can often lead to scores that are not fully indicative of performance and can lead to an incorrect assessment of an intellectual disability, or assess the wrong disability, which occurred in the prominent court case “Diana vs State Board of Education”. These mistakes still happen today to kids of all backgrounds. - There are important cultural barriers that often exist to getting the right student assessment and support. Parents often have no idea what their child is entitled to, particularly if they don’t have much experience in U.S. schools. Culturally, Latino parents tend to trust the experts, educators and administrators, and rely on them to tell them what their child needs. This
can backfire in the context of an individualized education plan (IEP) because the school may be waiting for the parent to communicate expectations, issues, or make specific requests, but the parent has no point of reference. These parents rely on the school to guide them and to explain options in their language, sometimes leaving the child in question with an incomplete or inadequate plan. - Inclusion remains a challenge- while national statistics from OSEP tell us that about 64% of students spend roughly 80% or more time in a general classroom, that number drops to 62% for Latino students. In APS, that number on average is 67% (from the latest data publicly available from 2017); it is 77% for white non-Hispanic students, and lowest for black and Hispanic students (53% and 56% respectively), which remains below the state target and over 13% below the APS 2018-2024 strategic plan.
My mission in running for School Board is to help ensure that APS provides the highest quality education for all students, and to ensure that all students are challenged in ways that encourage learning, confidence, and creativity. I am committed to ensuring that APS prioritizes supporting students with disabilities and those who need the most support all around. If elected I intend to work with fellow school board members, SEPTA, ASEAC, and with the administration to see what’s necessary to ensure that APS is on track for the 2024 strategic plan. I intend to ask the administration how we can further build a more inclusive mindset across staff, administrators, curriculum and master schedules at schools.
James Vell Rives IV
In high school I served during church services as a regular sitter for several adults with intellectual disabilities, and one summer I was employed as the head counselor for adults with intellectual disabilities attending a day camp. Those experiences helped me start to understand the everyday and long-term challenges faced by the persons we describe as special – and their families.
In my current work as a psychiatrist, many of my patients have mental and emotional disabilities requiring accommodations in their employment. My adolescent patients often have IEP’s, 504 plans, and disciplinary problems that may originate from their illness or disability. My role here is specialized; I am usually one of many professionals working with a person who, for various reasons, is not doing well. My interactions with employers and schools involve a lot of documentation but, disappointingly, little actual conversation about my patients to exchange ideas and concerns that don’t fit within the paperwork. In both the private and public sectors, regulations and bureaucracy choke out the personal element of disability work. Too often, even basic human decency seems missing. These experiences are part of the perspective I bring to the table as I consider input from students, families, and teachers alike.
Paul C. Weiss
Having taught in public school for over 35 years, I have extensive experience working with and on behalf of children with disabilities. I’m confident that if you ask any special education teacher or parent, they will vouch for my dedication to offering an inclusive and rewarding educational environment for my students withdisabilities. Furthermore, HB Woodlawn piloted the full inclusion program for students with autism in 2010. As a staff, we were open to a program that gave us increased staffing and expertise, and the program was very successful. Our special educators and speech-language therapists collaborated with general education teachers to increase our knowledge of strategies and teaching methods to help our students thrive.
Question 2: What do you believe are the most significant issues or challenges within APS relating to students with disabilities? As a School Board Member, how will you address them?
Kathleen Clark
Structurally, we lack the ability to fund and provide appropriate support for our students with disabilities [SWD]. Our planning factors, or funding, for inclusion for our SWD have not been updated in over 30 years. We see the impact of this throughout APS:
- Educators lack the resources and support to meaningfully address inclusion; this is frustrating for teachers (who are in this profession because they genuinely love teaching others) and for many families who see that their student(s) is not receiving the individualized instruction they need to access education. APS’s goal of 80% inclusion, 80% of the time has never been met and we hover around 67%; basically, segregating students due to funding, but not necessarily based on student need.
- Planning factors also impact the ability of a SWD to take intensified and AP courses, foreign languages, or other, more “rigorous” classes that may lack a co-teacher; this is seen frequently in middle and high school.
- Additionally, I see opportunity within the APS operating budget and HR department, a need to prioritize pay for the critical special education positions, and/or pay differentials, for our highly qualified educators that have specialized training in this field. APS continues to lose these educators to other school districts based on higher pay and more paid time added to the work week to cover the necessary paperwork for case carriers.
To address these concerns, I would prioritize planning factors within the budget. An important reminder of what school board members can and cannot do – school board members provide oversight and governance of budget and also review and decision on policies that impact our students with disabilities; school board members are not able to directly impact instructional oversight or operational decisions at a school specific level.
Zuraya Tapia-Hadley
In my view, I think the most significant challenges within APS related to students with disabilities fall under the following categories:
- Identification and IEP development
As I’ve been meeting with parents with children in Special Education and/or with disabilities, I repeatedly hear how challenging it was to know what to expect when first requesting an IEP. They often would have asked for more ordifferent things had they known that it was possible.
We must ensure the IEP process is as easy as possible for others, especially people with fewer resources and less access to advocates, which is often needed to get services they need.
Special education should remain a priority in the face of teacher shortages and other school professionals, especially for underrepresented communities. I also know parents who had no sense of the timeline to receive an IEP under thelaw and waited months for a full assessment of their child. As a school board member, I would fight to continue toimprove the way in which we communicate SPED services, how, and where to access them, and in linguistically and culturally competent ways for families who do not primarily speak English.
For many parents I’ve spoken to, the IEP process was long and confusing. Additionally, the limited cost sharing forprivate assessment creates a barrier to collecting necessary data and information for families. It should be a priority tomake the Independent Education Evaluation (IEE) and the IEP process clearer, easier, and more accessible. While every IEP and 504 is written to address each student’s needs, many parents/guardians find they don’t know what they should prioritize.
Additionally, it is necessary to employ greater consistency in identification and intervention for students across schools. The site-based management model has impacted the consistency of programming from school to school andit’s important to ensure high quality service that avoids any inequitable treatment imparted on students based on their circumstances or what school they attend.
- Staffing needs
Training/professional development (beyond seizure training). If elected, I would inquire as to whether the findings in the 2019 APS report still hold true – wherein almost most special education staff reported that they needed additional time to come together and coordinate with general education staff to support, and expressed a need to provide general teachers more opportunities to use the Arlington Tiered System of Support.
We also need more staff for IEP process/meetings and to conduct appropriate outreach to communities, particularly those of color or with limited English proficiency.
Planning factors – not all special education staff and educators have the same expertise, and schools may have differing needs, we should look beyond strictly planning factors to ensure that schools have theresources to meet the needs of their special education student body.
- Inclusion
I believe that true inclusion is about transforming systems and structures to make them better for everyone, not adapting different students to one system. My goal will be to increase opportunities for the authentic, equitable, and well-supported inclusion of students with disabilities within APS. Additionally, as a longtime civil rights advocate, I recognize how important it is to have substantive discussions about racial equity as well as disability equity. Centeringpolicy around the experiences of the most marginalized will help achieve equity goals for all, as evidenced by recent OSEP findings, and the DOJ case from a few years ago regarding English Language Learners (ELLs) that raised serious issues around discrimination against ELLs as well as special education students. I intend to work with schoolboard members and the superintendent to include, support, and educate all students.
Studies over forty years have shown that all students (both those with and without disabilities) benefit significantly from inclusive classrooms, in terms of academic test scores, long-term outcomes, and improved empathy and concern for social justice. We know that segregated,“self-contained” classrooms foster discrimination, are less effective in improving academic and social outcomes, impart lower expectations on students, and are often one-size- fits-all.
To this end, if elected, I would advocate for recognition that segregation of students with disabilities is a civil rights issueand is harmful to all students, especially the marginalized, and I
would prioritize remedying the inequities of opportunity and access. I am also supportive of providing all educatorswith the support and resources they need to allow meaningful inclusion and better implement universal design learning (UDL).
- Elimination of the County Behavior Intervention Services (BIS)
While BIS was a service offered by the County, not APS, I joined SEPTA in its concern when Arlington Countydecided to eliminate its children’s Behavioral Intervention Services program in FY 2025. I have heard from families and teachers as to how BIS provided valuable guidance and served as a first point of reference to address challenging behaviors at home, in school, or in the community.
Additionally, feedback from the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office confirms the value in BIS services as a valuablepoint of intervention to support youth with specific behavioral needs, so I hope to explore with Superintendent Duran and the County Board how we’re making those dozens of families utilizing BIS whole, and how we can serve these important needs going forward. BIS offered help that is not available through the public school system or through other community resources, and APS routinely referred children – often with disabilities – to the County BIS program.
Another important role of school board members, in addition to oversight of the superintendent and school administration, is to have a vision and see around corners. One troubling trend evidenced at the state level is a move towards penalizing and/or criminalizing student behavioral issues, which disproportionately threatens students with disabilities, be they of color or not, as well as students of color generally. For example, I would have strongly opposed VA House Bill 1461 that was introduced last year (it did not advance) which would have disproportionately impactedstudents with disabilities, students of color, and those who are low- income.
- Extended School Year
In order to ensure that students with disabilities do not suffer learning loss and have a safe environment over thesummer, I commit to looking closely into how we can offer additional summer & extended school year programs.
James Vell Rives IV
(A) Recruitment and retention of excellent staff, and maintaining consistent quality of services from school to school. These two problems are closely related. See question 3.
(B) The bureaucracy of special education services, well-intended to ensure fairness and scrutiny, has become a burden: families may be overwhelmed, and staff can become defensive and self-protective. Staff configuration should aim to have a few staff who know a student well rather than several layers of staff who have limited interaction with each student. Because disability services must be so highly customized, those working most closely with a student are in the best position to advocate for a student as well as to make the best strategic choices.
(C) Bullying and harassment of students with disabilities. See question 8.
(D) maintaining optimal access to instruction time and inclusion in general education. See questions 5 and 6.
(E) disparities in application of discipline to students with disabilities. See question 6.
Paul C. Weiss
The most significant issues stem from increasing demands on teachers to be experts in every aspect of our students’ time in school. We all want to be good at everything, but we need a content expert as well as a specialized instruction expert in classrooms to facilitate differentiation for all students.
Schools receive special education allocation based on the number of students with IEPs and the number of hours of service they receive. There is no additional staffing to support students with 504 plans—many of whom require similar accommodations and social-emotional support. The general educators are ultimately responsible for the implementation of all those accommodations as well as attendance at meetings in addition to all their other duties. While Ibelieve every student can be successful in the least restrictive environment, it takes partnership and collaboration with colleagues.
We do not need more central office staffing—we need student-facing staffing to provide the highest level of differentiated, appropriate education for all students. As class sizes have crept up overthe recent years, the number of students with IEPs and 504 plans in each of those classes has also increased.
Question 3: What steps should APS take to improve hiring and retention of high-quality and diverse Special Education teachers and staff, including related service providers and special education assistants?
Kathleen Clark
For special education teachers – we need to provide paid time to execute the paperwork required for managing case loads for special education students. There also needs to be pay differential or stipends offered for the highly specialized roles (like MIPA classrooms) that are the hardest to fill.
For related service providers – We have not paid our related service providers the same pay as teachers. These positions are student facing and require a great deal of coordination efforts to ensure students at one or many of their schools are receiving services required. They should receive the same pay, steps and colas, and great working environment no matter what school they are assigned to.
Special education assistants are often the unsung heroes in our classrooms supporting our educators and school teams provide appropriate services for our students with disabilities. However, I hear frequently from these assistants that they want to be able to attend trainings at the beginning of the year and some of the IEP meetings so that they can help ensure oversight AND have a solid understanding of how to help each student that they work with.
Zuraya Tapia-Hadley
APS has a teacher and staff compensation challenge across the board. This has led, in part, to higher turnover amongspecial education teachers in Arlington County, particularly among those with 2-5 years of experience, thereby reducing the pipeline of experienced teachers and staff.
Furthermore, compensation is beginning to fall behind other regional school divisions, leading to challenges in acquiring and retaining top talent. In order to maintain and deliver high quality results, APS must increase teacher pay and other forms of compensation and foster a positive work environment where students and teachers are learning and thriving.
Some strategies that could support recruitment, hiring, and retention of staff who work with students with disabilities, include:
- Work with the APS administration to reduce the administrative tasks on educators such that there isbandwidth that allows all teachers to be well versed in Universal Design for Learning guidelines and so that we can hold ourselves accountable as a system to support Special Education teachers in this way.
- Provide competitive compensation for special education teachers, related service providers and assistants who work with students with disabilities.
- Provide compensation for professionals who work with students with disabilities that is commensurate with their qualifications and certifications.
- Provide benefits for staff who work with students with disabilities, including health coverage for specialeducation assistants, health benefits and other compensation.
- Create additional professional development opportunities for educators, such as promoting special education expertise among general classroom teachers.
- Expose middle and high school students to career options in special education in order to build a pipeline offuture talent and potential educators focused on special education.
James Vell Rives IV
I will make student-facing staff positions a budget priority for both General and Special Education. Reducing class sizes, even in General Education, will improve the quality of instruction and individualized attention available to Special Education students. We may well have to pay more; I am open to creative policy changes to attract and retain the specialists we need in Special Education, such as offering employees in under-supplied fields signing and/or continuance bonuses. And often, welcomed as much or more than higher pay, are changes such as additional planning and collaboration time and reducing the amount of non-teaching tasks expected of teachers.
Paul C. Weiss
We should have partnerships and grant programs with universities to train new teachers. We can also recruit from within APS and help excellent general educators who are interested in career moves to moveto special education. Good teachers are good teachers, and it’s healthy for career teachers to change positions and schools as they grow and change.
We ask so much of all teachers, but especially special education teachers. We need to look at the formulaused for special education staffing—currently 1 teacher for 25 students on a resource level, and 1 teacher for 10 students on a self-contained level.
Question 4: How should APS ensure General Education teachers are adequately prepared to instruct and meet the needs of students with disabilities?
Kathleen Clark
There are so many competing priorities, and meaningful training for General Education teachers to support our SWD tends to drop to a lower priority based on what other required trainings are there. While President of SEPTA, in coordination with ASEAC, I focused on the need for high-quality training and continuously shared feedback to Admin, Central Office, and the Office of Special Education to try to improve the time struggle of insufficient time. This is still an issue that I want to see addressed.
In terms of training programs for educators and parents/community members to help ensure consistency for the student and reinforce the expected behaviors, I really like programs like Unstuck and On Target that focus on getting to the root cause of the concern or behavior and helps teachers to “coach” kids through the issue at hand.
Zuraya Tapia-Hadley
We should support General Education teachers to receive more specialized knowledge of how to teach students withdisabilities, training, and professional development on how to implement UDL. Although APS doesn’t have jurisdiction over the General Assembly, which determines certifications, teacher qualifications and evaluations, we can incorporate evaluation measures into hiring processes that screen for this type of coursework, past training, and experience.
James Vell Rives IV
Smaller class sizes and fewer non-teaching responsibilities for General Education teachers would help immensely. Beyond that, APS should hire dually certified general/special education teachers whenever possible. General and special education teachers need common planning time to collaborate, both for students they are co-teaching and also for those whom they teach separately. Professional development (continuing education) for General Education teachers should incorporate Special Education topics both for overall review as well as for learning new developments in the field.
Paul C. Weiss
If we had robust student-teaching partnerships, we could expose future teachers to more preparation for teaching students at all levels. We are now seeing more new teachers with no training and experience as thesupply of teachers wanes and the provisional licensure requirements are reduced to fill the openings.Teaching and learning is best done in a collaborative environment. Having 2 teachers—a content expert and a specialized instruction expert—working together with a common plan time would make an enormous improvement in daily instruction.
Question 5: How familiar are you with the challenges with inclusion in APS? If elected, what are the specific investments and initiatives you would promote to make meaningful progress towards improving inclusive practices for students with disabilities in APS?
Kathleen Clark
I helped lead the planning factors work for inclusion in 2021-2022 and provided key stakeholder input as Vice Chair of the Strategic Plan. I have years of experience in advocacy around inclusive
practices.
Success in this area begins with presuming competence in our students and providing ALL students access to educational opportunities. APS will not be able to implement the necessary changes overnight. Rather, the approach needs to be intentional around budget/headcount (to support the necessary resources and appropriate planning factors) and must include a breakdown of all of the key goals & metrics by year, and both the budget and goals to measure against must be aligned with the Strategic Plan to help improve outcomes for our most vulnerable learners.
Zuraya Tapia-Hadley
I see that as a school system, we are still far from our goal of having 80% of students with disabilities included in ageneral education setting with non-disabled peers at least 80% of the time by 2030. At the moment, only about 64% of students with disabilities are in a general classroom setting 80% of the time, and that amount decreases for Latino students.
Students with disabilities should receive instruction with the general education students in as inclusive a manner as possible. As such we must ensure that we maintain high standards across the board so that students with disabilities receive quality instruction.
Research shows that students who develop strong reading skills in elementary school (K-3) do better in all subjectslater on in middle school and high school. Targeted class size reduction is an appropriate intervention to help students with disabilities who are not reading at grade level side by side with their peers who are also working to overcome this challenge.
If elected, I will support greater transparency on the part of APS in terms of data around special education. IDEAIndicator 5 data should be provided (whether students spend most of their day in segregated or regular classrooms), broken down by school, race/ethnicity, gender, English learner status, etc. and be more readily publicly available.
In general, universal design for learning (UDL) provides multiple means of engagement, representation, and action andexpression that lead to kids having greater access to learning, building upon it, and internalizing the subject matter.
This leads to students that are purposeful and motivated and gives them more appreciation for why they are learning the content. It is a framework for thinking about how to remove barriers, even barriers that we see and many that we don’t. And it’s a way to make all instruction appropriately challenging for students, making all kids expert learners.
Below are two concrete ways to help implement UDL:
- Ensure that there are structures in the classroom to sustain students’ attention and help with self-regulation and attentive needs (a quiet corner in the room, multi-sensory instruction and representation). Similarly, provide copies or recordings of presentations, and making assessments in multiple formats or allowing students to show competency ina variety of ways.
- Guarantee appropriate staffing. The Superintendent’s current proposed FY25 budget proposes cutting one staffmember (from 4 to 3) for Arlington’s Tiered System of Support, which utilizes and promotes UDL. If the proposed staff reduction is a role that provides direct support
to teachers and families, I would support keeping this position in place and instead cut from the materials line item in the ATSS budget.
James Vell Rives IV
I support the 80/80 goal of the APS strategic plan, and my own children (who have attended APS exclusively) have been in blended classes that were co-taught as well as general education classes with support staff assigned to specific students. One instance was an especially positive experience for my child. But I am aware that sometimes inclusion may need to have lesser priority, e.g. when a student has such difficulty either behaviorally or cognitively in a general class that they require a specialized setting in order to maintain access to their education. To make either setting work, and to maximize “mainstreaming,” it will require significant funding and staffing, and I want to prioritize APS hiring student-facing i.e. classroom teachers. Again, decreasing General Education class sizes will have benefits for students with disabilities as well.
I support a combination of universal design and traditional “mainstreaming” practices. As with good General Education, teachers should present and reinforce material in a variety of formats. Ideally, every student will master the full range of academic skills. Full academic inclusion can mean that a student will perform better via some modes of learning than others, and development should be encouraged in areas of weakness. In more extreme situations, when a certain mode of learning or demonstrating mastery is significantly impaired or not applicable, a formal accommodation should be applied individually.
Paul C. Weiss
I fully support inclusion but it is critical that the necessary staffing and training to truly support students be a priority as well. I also fully support transparency to parents when the support system is stressed.
Question 6: Do you believe APS should take any new or different measures to support students who experience unexpected behaviors, beyond what APS is already doing? What should these be?
Kathleen Clark
Behavior is a form of communication, and I have often heard that when student behavior is deemed to be a “challenge” (and often the student is removed), there was a series of missed cues and
opportunity to stop the behavior from happening; this ties back to the need for training addressed in an earlier question.
My family has experienced this firsthand as I’ve had admin and educators say to us “well, if your student just didn’t react, then this wouldn’t be an issue.” This mindset incorrectly places the blame and burden of change on the SWD. Instead, we need to ensure classrooms utilize inclusive practices, as well as restorative practices, to support ALL students.
Zuraya Tapia-Hadley
Yes, while the school system is taking some measures through resources available via the Parent Resource Center,individual IEP processes, and by developing social emotional learning curriculum and expressly setting in place restorative justice practices, there is much more that we should do to make everyone in the school system more supportive.
For example, while our Social Emotional Learning curriculum touches upon some of the challenges faced by these students by promoting more empathy and awareness in others, from what I can tell, there is no unit specifically onexpected and unexpected behaviors as such, even though there are plenty of teaching materials and curriculum publicly available from educational companies and universities. In order to make our schools more inclusive and welcoming to all, I would suggest that we have a more pointed focus on how to support kids with unexpected behaviors so that wecan make all our kids and adults better classmates and fellow humans. We should offer such training to parents as well.
As a school board member, I would also be very wary about making any decisions or suggestions about acommunity’s needs without that community’s input, so as a first step I
would want to speak with families with kids with unexpected behaviors to best understand what APS is getting right and where they need additional support.
James Vell Rives IV
Students with disabilities are disciplined at rates disproportionally higher than other students. To identify and address the actionable causes of this, APS needs to continue investigating and making improvements in data collection methods (as just one example, capturing all “informal” student removals in the data). In the meantime, having students maintain access to education is usually the highest priority, so a variety of in-school solutions should be considered for immediate intervention: a student-designated aide, transfer from a general setting to a special education setting, or in-school suspension. Recognizing antecedents to problem behaviors and acting preemptively is ideal.
Paul C. Weiss
APS needs to base decisions on what is best for the student, not what is most convenient for the system.
Question 7: What are your thoughts on APS’s implementation of new restrictions on students’ use of personal electronic devices as it relates to students with disabilities? How will you approach this as a School Board Member?
Kathleen Clark
First, I think it is important to acknowledge that parents pretty uniformly agree that our educators need to be focusing on instruction and not “policing” cell phones. A majority of teachers now are
raising their hands to say, “we can’t continue to manage phones like this, it is too disruptive to the classroom” and this data point shouldn’t be ignored.
That said, regulation of cell phones should be managed differently based on student age, need, and time of day.
- Elementary – If a student brings a phone to school, it needs to be put in the backpack and not available during the day and watches should be in airplane mode. Phones can be turned on once school has ended.
- Middle School – There are medical and/or mental health reasons why students may need access to their phones. I believe this is an age in which some students can learn how to help manage their own health and develop self-advocacy skills. Noted below are some examples of when a student may need their phone accessible for limited use (i.e. phone is stored in a bag that is carried with them and available when needed but not so visible that it distracts from instruction). A student may use the phone to:
- help track blood sugar levels,
- manage schoolwork through some executive functioning apps that are used in conjunction with their therapist to help the student establish routines and prioritization of work,
- work with their parent or therapist to support anxiety and/or coping skills, for instance, to manage a traumatic event that they experienced.
- I am also aware of phones being used to take pictures of things for instructional purposes, such as Yearbook Class in 8th grade. I believe phones need to be stored in their backpacks or other available area (such as a locker), and not used for the duration of the school day unless for the reasons stated above.
- High School – In addition to the potential health reasons mentioned above under Middle School, my understanding is that some students use their phone periodically during the school day for instructional purposes (taking photos of work as the laptops may not have the ability to take quality photos and coordinating group work). I also know many highschoolers that arrange their own transportation, that need to coordinate after school activities and work, and some are caregivers for their siblings or even their own children. I want students to be able to focus on instruction when they are in class, so other than limited instructional and health reasons noted above, I think that cell phones should be stored in a bag, and not visible to the student. That said, I do not have a school system concern with high school students having access to phones at lunch.
Additionally, there are some measures that parents should take to support educators as I hear from many teachers that the main disruption to instruction are parents texting students during the day. Questions about how a test or assignment went can be left until dinnertime. Parents and guardians can call the office to coordinate immediate changes to after school arrangements. I’ve caught myself sending a reminder to my son – we are human, we won’t get it right every time, but we do need to lead by example here.
Zuraya Tapia-Hadley
While I am supportive, in general, of having devices away during instruction time, I am also keenly aware of the very specific needs that students with disabilities, or students with certain medical conditions, may have with respect totheir personal devices. For that reason, I am also supportive of and willing to defend exceptions for students with disabilities such that they have what they need for their well-being and to be more successful in the classroom.
As a school board member, the way that I would approach any issue, including the issue of devices in class is: 1) whatis the issue we’re trying to solve? Is this necessary?, and 2) get the facts on the ground (i.e., how is this policy actually playing out in the classroom?).
For the first part, I believe this policy is one of several ways that APS is trying to address the learning gap that still exists in APS and the mental health challenges that are overwhelmingly present among our student body, particularly youngwomen. So the types of questions I would
ask on the School Board are: what does the science and the data tell us? What brings the most good to the most students? And is there anyone this might harm?
Now that the initial temporary policy has been in place for over a month, I’m hearing from educators and students that it’s going ok, some students tell me they are feeling better in class, and so I look forward to learning how SEPTA parents responded to the questionnaire that SEPTA sent out. If elected, I will certainly take that feedback to heart and work to ensure that APS takes it into account in actionable ways. I believe that there is a way for SEPTA’s concerns to be addressed while keeping a policy that helps students focus in class.
I work/have worked for two of the largest tech companies in the world, so I come to this topic being very familiar with both the benefits and the pitfalls of devices and of some of the most popular applications on devices.
I am also familiar with the deep bench of scholarship and research that overwhelmingly agrees that excessive exposure to devices among children and youth generally hurts their well-being and development. The most recent data that I read indicates that at a national level kids (youth 18 years of age and under) spend on average 6 or 7 hoursa day on devices. This does concern me, and I also believe that SEPTA has some valid concerns.
Setting aside the general device policy for a moment, I take the opportunity to share concerns I have related to the pouches for devices being piloted in some schools. I’m unclear as to why these special pouches are necessary to implement the policy (it strikes me that we could have a bin, or shoe pouches in the classroom to place devices), but I have questions, like: What is the policy for pouches and how will it be enforced? Who makes these pouches? How much does each one cost, and why are they necessary? How did the pouches idea come about- was it from educators in the classrooms, kids, or someone else? And if it was not their idea, were they consulted before launching a pilot program?
I hope this sheds some light as to my approach to dealing with these complicated issues.
James Vell Rives IV
I have been advocating for an “Away for the Day” policy for several years, and I believe APS is now moving in the right direction. The implementation has sometimes been bumpy, but I expect our schools and administration can work out the logistics during this transitional time. During the school day, some students may require electronic devices for assistive, medical, or other reasons. I support granting exceptions and accommodations on a case-by-case basis. This will preserve the general expectation that devices are to be turned off and put away during school; teachers will not have to spend class time monitoring student devices, and students will be able to better engage with instruction as well as healthy interaction with classmates.
Paul C. Weiss
I support away for the day – an not through pouches. But as with most issues faced by school systems, there is no one size fits all solution. Prior to the widespread use of smartphones, students with disabilities faced challenges. We have an opportunity to teach all students—and students with disabilities are first and foremost a student—how to deal with stress, anxiety, and the downsides of phone use. We can use this as an opportunity to teach them. The phone cannot be the only tool in the toolbox. For some students, yes, they are a must. But we can consider this a process of learning and embrace the opportunity to improve overall mentalhealth and engagement at the same time we are supporting them with learning new strategies. The data on phone use is compelling, and we are all in this learning process together.
Question 8: What is your knowledge and opinion regarding bullying of students with disabilities in APS? As a School Board Member, how will you respond?
Kathleen Clark
This is a topic that hits very personally for my family, as I have a student that was bullied for being Autistic. I believe to really address this issue that we must start upstream with inclusive classrooms and use of restorative practices as a foundation of how we operate. To build an inclusive school, one strategy that should be considered is using peer engagement and intentional outreach to improve connectedness amongst students, which has been shown to reduce the instances of bullying and child suicide. Organizations like 1N5 and Hope Squad show how effective peers can be in building connectedness, noting signs of distress, and connecting peers to help when needed.
If bullying of SWD has occurred, I would say similar as to question #6, that APS must focus on correcting the behaviors of the bullies, and not force the victim to endure the burden of punishment. For example, if/when a SWD is bullied, the common practice used to protect the victim is to have an adult follow that student around school, rather than the bully. This method of “protection” sends the wrong message and focuses on the wrong student; those that are the aggressors need to be very tightly monitored so that they can’t hurt other students, rather than have the victim sit near an adult at lunch or during classes – they shouldn’t be the ones punished.
As a School Board Member – I want to see inclusive practices implemented and see policies update to focus on the behavior by the aggressor to ensure that the rights (and freedom) of the SWD are protected.
Zuraya Tapia-Hadley
Unfortunately, as a parent in schools, I have been privy to some instances of kids with disabilities in our circles being bullied, and as a candidate I have been exposed to many more heart-wrenching stories. From situations that impacted my running-mate, Kathleen Clark, and motivated her to run, to more recently hearing about a student withdisabilities being bullied and then the school responding by putting the onus on the child in question to adjust their schedule to “avoid” the bully in question. To me, it is deplorable that any educator, administrator, or school would re-victimize a child in this way.
I am particularly empathetic because as a member of a minority community, it happens all the time that society asks or demands that we bear the burden of prejudice and injustices
committed against us and “adjust”, instead of society addressing the offender/violator and their behavior as unacceptable. For that and many reasons, I have zero tolerance against bullying and prejudice, and as a School Board member I would be a force to change the culture and vision in APS such that we as a school system develop zero tolerance for hate and bullying.
I’m sad to report that at present, this is most certainly not the case. I have heard from parents who have kids subjected to racial slurs at one high school, antisemitic messages at another, and bullying against kids with disabilities, and in each of these cases there are administrators who just sat by, they did not immediately andunequivocally denounce and work to remedy said behaviors, which is unacceptable to me. Zero tolerance has to start with each school, each administrator, in order to build a culture that truly makes it unacceptable to abuse students, educators, and staff.
I am a strong proponent of restorative justice practices, but this entails accountability, and in my view, any bully must be held to account in APS.
While I am running for school board, I am also a parent, and I believe that my work begins at home, raising my boysto ensure that they never treat anyone with anything less than respect and kindness, because every person deserves that. I live by example to ensure that they understand that we are all different and that there is no one way of being.
James Vell Rives IV
Students with disabilities are targets of bullying and harassment more frequently than other students. Every student is entitled to attend school and learn in an environment free from discrimination and harassment. As an aspiring School Board member, I think all students could be better protected if APS had more effective anti-bullying practices. When any student or staff is bullied, harassed, intimidated, or disrespected for any reason – no exceptions, there should be negative consequences applied to the offender. I appreciate APS’s increasing emphasis on interpersonal restoration, but that alone is not sufficient. Developmentally appropriate, proportional consequences are needed to discourage problem behaviors. When a student with disabilities is the aggressor in bullying, preserving access to their education must be a priority throughout the behavior modification process – see question 6.
Paul C. Weiss
Again, having taught for over 35 years, I know bullying is real and unfortunately prevalent in any environment where kids are together for extended periods.
As a School Board member, I would prioritize students who are bullied being validated and made to feel safe intheir school. Supporting the victims of bullying is the number one priority in my opinion.
For the aggressor, perhaps there could be a Second Chance program for those who bully just like there is onefor students who experiment with drugs. We are in the business of teaching and helping students become the best versions of themselves.
Question 9: What is your knowledge and opinion of accessibility challenges in APS facilities? How should APS address the issues?
Kathleen Clark
We have significant ADA issues in APS facilities, from overall building design (Fleet and The Heights) to having functioning elevators and accessible parking, accessible playgrounds, and schools having the right equipment to deliver services. From my vantage point, a number of these issues have continued through building designs because we don’t have the right eyes on the projects and stops in place to prevent these issues from occurring. I would start with design and continue to hold staff accountable to ensuring that have an accessible environment for all students, teachers, and visitors to our APS facilities. Additionally, our capital funds need to be prioritized to ensure that we are remediating any access issues timely (like fixing the non-functioning elevators to ensure our school buildings are accessible for ALL students, staff, and visitors).
Zuraya Tapia-Hadley
I believe that APS has a responsibility to provide accessible facilities to all of its students. Although it is important to recognize the efforts that have been made, I am aware that improvements to elevator maintenance, restroom and dooraccess, emergency evacuation, outdoor spaces, and parking are necessary.
Consistently functioning elevators and ADA push buttons on doors are crucial to ensuring a positive independentexperience for students with disabilities in all APPS facilities. One can only imagine (and SEPTA wrote about this lastyear) how stressful it is for students in wheelchairs to regularly face broken or malfunctioning equipment, requiring them to request assistance which may or may not be readily available.
Furthermore, within school buildings door frame widths in many locations are not sufficient to comfortably accommodatewheelchair access. In other cases, additional and properly operating ADA push buttons on doors are necessary.
Accessibility issues also exist outside of buildings. I’m aware that playgrounds at APS schools have either limited or no outdoor accessible play areas for students with wheelchairs and walkers. Many play surfaces are covered in mulchrather than rubberized play surfaces, which makes it difficult for students in wheelchairs and walkers to gain access toplay equipment and engage positively with their peers.
If elected to the school board, I believe that it is under the school board’s purview to have oversight over the administration and as such I would work with fellow board members to request an update on what improvements APS has done since SEPTA’s communications and survey on accessibility issues sent to the Superintendent last year. I would also look into transportation options for students with disabilities, I would like to know more about the rationale behind, and cost breakdown of, the transition from utilizing Red Top Cab to Everdriven.
James Vell Rives IV
I know there is wide variation in accessibility between newer and older facilities, and that there have been shortcomings with new facilities that have been expensive to correct. Obviously, new construction must comply with code, but that is only a minimum starting point for accessibility.
As for improving the accessibility of existing, grandfathered facilities, I want to make upgrades and maintenance a budget priority, and I would like to see the timeline for planned upgrades accelerated. I am aware this is harder to promote than exciting new projects, but I aim to give it the attention it deserves. As with many special education issues, improvement here will benefit all APS students and staff.
Paul C. Weiss
I can speak to the new construction of the Heights building in Rosslyn. The building opened in 2019 with wide stairwells without adequate handrails or tape differentiating the steps.
Concrete floors make for noisy hallways which are problematic for students with sensory needs. Hugewindows provide glare on whiteboards and Smartboards even with blinds drawn, so students with low vision struggle to see.
Universal design should be part of all construction. Just like all instruction should include accessibility for students with learning needs, all buildings should be accessible.
Question 10: How will you engage with the disability community and/or SEPTA if you are elected?
Kathleen Clark
I will work with SEPTA leadership in recurring meetings to listen to the feedback that they regularly hear from the disability community. I will help influence meaningful change by ensuring that the special education lens is applied during all decision making, but particularly at the beginning of any initiative. I did this in the Strategic Plan by ensuring that a representative familiar with the both the broad and specialized needs of our SWD were considered when staff was laying out the objectives and strategies.
Zuraya Tapia-Hadley
Transparency and communication are pillars of my platform as a candidate. As a School Board member, I will take ownership, and endeavor to communicate directly with SEPTA and members of the disability community. I will listen to parent concerns and advocate that the needs of our students with disabilities are meaningfully and actively addressed.
Special education should not be seen as merely the concern of those within the disability community. I believe wemust support our students with disabilities and place their needs at the forefront alongside all of our students.Therefore, I will maintain sustained engagement with the disability community to ensure their needs are heard, input is valued, and when necessary recourse is acted upon expeditiously. I will do this by being present and listening- attending community events – not just with families and APS structures working with the disability community, but also with local organizations that support the community, like The Arc of Northern Virginia, which I visited over the Summer and met with their Director of Advocacy. I look forward to regularly engaging with SEPTA and its members, including during PTA meetings, open office hours in person and via Zoom, casual phone calls and during school visits. I will always have an open door and intend to amplify SEPTA’s expertise and shed light on your concerns to better serve our students and families. I will also work hard to improve the implementation of the UDL learning framework in classrooms writ large because I believe it benefits all students.
James Vell Rives IV
During these campaigns (this is not my first!) I continue to learn so much about the range of student and family experiences in APS, and I will strive to keep listening and learning as a board member. I would be happy to serve as the Board liaison to ASEAC, and I will consider the disability community in my work with all of my liaison assignments. I will of course respond to all communications from SEPTA and ASEAC, and I will take initiative to correct any breakdowns in process or communication.
Paul C. Weiss
As I have for my 22 years in Arlington: active listening and transparent decision making.
Leave a Reply