Seventeen Alexandria City Public School students were arrested in the first two quarters of the 2022-2023 school year. There were also 15 weapons-related incients, 41 students injured, 44 fights/assaults and a report of sexual misconduct.
That’s according to a school safety report to be presented to the School Board on Thursday. There were 188 incidents requiring a police response within Alexandria City Public Schools in the first two semesters of this year. Weapons seized include knives, brass knuckles, stun guns/tasers, a BB gun and pepper spray.
The report sheds light on the safety situation of the school system as it prepares a new metal detector pilot for the city’s high school campuses and middle schools.
There were 78 incidents reported at the Alexandria City High School campuses, 71 incidents at the city’s two middle schools, 29 incidents at K-8 schools and 10 incidents at elementary schools. There were also 74 police calls for service — 37 at the high school campuses, 28 at the middle schools, four at K-8 schools and five at elementary schools.
The volume of incidents is going down, according to ACPS.
Last school year, 46 students were arrested and 68 injured, with 385 incidents that provoked a police response. There were 28 incidents involving students with weapons in ACPS last school year — 13 incidents in the first semester, and 15 in the second semester, according to another safety report. The weapons seized include a gun, five knives, a stun gun, two fake weapons, and pepper spray.
Seventeen ACPS students were arrested in the first two semesters of the school year. Five arrests were for weapons possession, four for controlled substances, three for assault, three for obstruction, one for an alleged threat and another for an open arrest warrant. Eleven students were arrested at the high school and six arrested at middle schools.
Of those arrested, a majority were Black males.
Incidents in the first semester of this school year include:
- 52 incidents characterized as “other” (parking lot accidents, trespassing, mental health episodes, property lost/damaged)
- 44 fights/assaults
- 41 injuries that required medical assistance
- 15 confiscated weapons
- 14 controlled substances
- Eight threats (verbal/cyber/social media)
- Seven missing student reports
- Two reports of suspicious activity
- Two alarms pulled
- One report of sexual misconduct
- One Theft
- One report of possessing prohibited materials
Metal detectors update
ACPSÂ plans to add metal detectors to Alexandria City High School and the city’s middle schools before the end of the school year, according to a staff report that will be presented to the School Board on Thursday.
The Board will hear new details on the”weapons abatement program” initially proposed on Feb. 2 by the ACPS Department of Facilities and Operations, Office of Safety and Security Services. Under the new “less invasive” system, students, staff and visitors will walk into the school, and artificial intelligence will determine whether weapons are present, the Board was told.
ACPS will launch a communitywide survey on the pilot will on its website on Feb. 24, with results being shared with the Board meeting on March 16. The equipment would be installed in April and the pilot will begin before the end of the school year in May.
The pilot is considered as a “strategy to reduce actual/potential of weapons from entering ACPS facilities,” according to a staff memo.
It costs approximately $60,000 for every affixed metal detector, and $13,000 for mobile detectors, and ACPS plans on using both during the pilot. Additionally, the pilot will be funded by ACPS safety and security capital improvement funds, according to a staff presentation.
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If you had a chance to enhance a child’s future with a time commitment of less than 2 hours a week, how would you respond? You have that opportunity right now to join over 200 Alexandrians as a reading tutor volunteer with the Alexandria Tutoring Consortium (ATC).
ATC tutors work with one child in kindergarten, first, or second grade in Alexandria public schools who need extra help with reading. Tutors meet with their Book Buddy 1-2 times each week for 30 minutes October-May at school, during school hours. Many struggling readers only receive one-on-one instruction through this program, and it makes all the difference. Last year, ATC served 195 children, of whom 82% ended the year reading on grade level and 96% made substantial reading gains. But the need is great, and we are still seeing learning lags from the pandemic.
This year, ATC plans to significantly increase the size of the program to reach over 250 students and to serve every elementary school in Alexandria. This is very exciting news, but we will only succeed if we can recruit more tutors. ATC trains you, matches you with a child, and provides ongoing lesson materials and support.
If you have been thinking about buying your first home or haven’t owned one in the last three years, THIS IS FOR YOU!
In the DMV area, it can be difficult to save the downpayment necessary for you to get into your own home. We have a solution. The Funder’s Summit!
We have assembled a summit with different municipalities to tell you how to access their funds for your home purchase.
2023 Alexandria Fall Festival
Food trucks, bounce houses, pony rides, magic shows and more at the 2023 Alexandria Fall Festival, an Alexandria Living event presented by The Patterson Group. Join us at River Farm on Sunday, Nov. 5 from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
