The Alexandria School Board approved the “Option A – Open Heart” concept for the modernization of George Mason Elementary School.
While the Board voted 7-2 for Option A, it was a contentious vote that saw two abstentions from Members Jacinta Greene and Abdel Elnoubi, who both said that the Board and ACPS staff did not do their “due diligence” in finding the best options to replace the 85-year-old school. They are also both running for City Council in November.
“I do not feel our due diligence has been done as a school board to make the best decision possible for Georgia Mason,” Greene told the Board. “I am excited for George Mason to have a new school. I’m excited for the community. I truly am, but the due diligence has not been done for what the community has asked, the entire community has asked for, and therefore I am not comfortable making a decision tonight.”
The Open Heart concept is a u-shaped design that centers on an academic core with the more community focused spaces toward the back of the school. The 85-year-old school will be completely rebuilt, as ACPS plans to move students to swing space at 1703 N. Beauregard Street until the new school opens in summer 2027.
“Once it’s all done, I know we’re going to have an opportunity to celebrate an amazing educational space for students,” Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt told the Board.
Plans for the school’s modernization go back to 2019, and a feasibility study was released in 2021. The three options that were reviewed were revealed last month.
Greene, along with Board Member Tammy Ignacio, wanted more options presented to the Board.
“I didn’t feel the whole community was listened to in the process and as an elected board member, I and other School Board members asked for and were not given the opportunity to see a fourth option that would have saved the majority of the green space,” Greene told ALXnow. “There was not a majority of the board that wanted an additional option to be brought forward for one reason or another. Therefore, I could not make a well-informed decision based on the information given.”
There is currently 327,760 square feet of open space at the school as it exists now, and there would be an 8% reduction to 314,437 square feet with the Open Heart concept, according to ACPS. The reduction would be due to space taken up by a turf field, a fenced-in playground and parking.
Ignacio, on the other hand, voted with the majority on the project because of what she characterized as “deplorable conditions” in the aging school.
“It is unsafe and it is unfair for our children and our educators to be working and going to school in it,” Ignacio said. “Yes, I wanted to see a different design. Yes, I asked for a fourth option, maybe a fifth, but I’m not going to delay a process when a building is deplorable as it is at George Mason.”
Elnoubi said that the three options were similar with the same trade-offs.
“I wanted us to pause and explore more options to preserve all the open space and maximize the green space, like a three-story design,” Elnoubi told ALXnow. “Each of the designs lose anywhere between 3%-to-8% of open space and about half the green space and we have limited open and green space in our city. This decision will have decades of impact on our city and is being rushed in fear of delaying the project delivery which is not an excuse to not to do more due diligence and explore creative options to preserve open and green space. I don’t buy that we can’t find time in the schedule to give us more time now. I’m also not satisfied with the public engagement process.”
Board Member Ashley Simpson Baird, whose children have attended George Mason, broke down in tears during the meeting.
“I think a critical piece that was missed in this conversation is why we’ve ended up at this very truncated period right now,” Simpson Baird said. “That’s because 14 months ago, the city manager said we had to cut the CIP (Capital Improvement Program), and so we went through a process of nine-to-10 months to get money back to this project, which has allowed us to have these designs at this point. Had that not happened, we would have had a lengthier community input process. We would have been able to do more of this engagement, would have been able to hear more, and we probably would have had more target process for picking these concepts designs. But that’s not where we’re at, and I think that’s a really important contextual variable to think about.”
Board Member Christopher Harris said that the Board needed to act to keep the project timeline on track.
“This work started some time ago,” Harris said. We contracted architects and engineers to come up with three designs, and they were based on the community feedback and the due diligence done by the project team and understanding that construction timelines matter. We’re at a place now where there can’t be a whole lot of deviations from the timeline that we set forth. That does cost money, and … it also affects future projects.”
Board Chair Michelle Rief said she was ready to make a vote on the issue.
“I feel like I’ve done my due diligence,” Rief said.
