Arlington School Committee Unanimously Approves Deputy Superintendent Ford Walker's Final-Year Contract

ARLINGTON — June 23, 2026 — Arlington School Committee approves one-year contract extension for Deputy Superintendent Dr. Mona Ford Walker, who will leave APS after 2026-27. The unanimous 7-0 vote followed an executive session and an extended tribute from Superintendent Dr. Desi Holman, who said Ford Walker guided the district's elementary ELA rollout, math pathways work, and curriculum team hiring during her three-year tenure; the agreement includes a retention incentive to give the district time to conduct a leadership search. Earlier in the meeting, Math Curriculum Coordinator Ms. Bronner presented seven recommendations from the Math Pathways Planning Task Force — covering a K-5 program audit, a review of seventh- and eighth-grade tracking practices, and expanded access to intervention and enrichment — but committee members including the chair pushed back on the lack of concrete timelines ahead of the first cohort entering Gibbs Middle School without the old bypass route in September. The committee approved year-end budget transfers to close the books in balance, with an unanticipated $36,000 in circuit breaker funds arriving following passage of the Fair Share Amendment, and voted 7-0 to approve a job description for an after-school program review coordinator. The committee also accepted the revised APS high school and district-wide handbooks — with an agreement to add the word "potentially" to suspension language flagged by member Dr. Allison Amepe — and honored outgoing Arlington Education Association President Julie Keys, who is stepping down after 10 years to return to classroom teaching.