In the middle of an uproar over the planned elimination of Alexandria’s K-8 schools, a discussion at Alexandria’s City Council meeting last night (Tuesday) may have gotten the ball rolling for a new local middle school.
City Council member John Chapman asked, during a discussion of the Long-Range Planning Interdepartmental Work Program, whether the City could revisit Long Range Educational Facilities Plan — which spells out plans to improve facilities planning and accommodate the growing student population.
“It was one of the things that, maybe back in 2017, city staff worked with ACPS staff to develop the long-range educational facilities plan,” Chapman said. “That laid out what the city and schools were going to work together on over the next 10 years. I came across that and read it the other day and it was a wonderful roadmap. With City investment, we’ve done maybe 75-80% of the outcomes, and interestingly enough, the plan ended in 2025.”
Chapman said he’d be interested in revisiting the plan and extending the process for the next few years.
“That plan told the reason why we have K-8 schools,” Chapman said. “[I’d like to] elongate that plan and lay out what else needs to be done.”
Ten years ago, that plan identified that a new middle school would likely be necessary at some point in the future. One of the recommendations was:
Locate a new middle school in the city as Francis C. Hammond is expected to exceed 1,500 students in 2020 and George Washington will be over 1,400 students in 2020
The Alexandria School Board’s solution was to convert Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 IB School into a middle school, a plan that’s created considerable controversy in the ACPS community. Chapman said the School Board and City Council should reconsider the possibility of building a new middle school instead.
“One of the things that ACPS is very aware of and lays out in the plan that needs to still be completed is a new middle school,” Chapman said. “Having a conversation about where a new middle school goes seems like a timely thing to do over the next few years if not sooner.”
Chapman said this is “perfect timing” for that conversation because of turnover on the School Board and City Council, but there’s also a possibility that student populations could start to decline again before a new middle school is completed.
Jefferson-Houston’s conversion to a middle school and Patrick Henry’s conversion to an elementary school are scheduled to occur sometime around 2030 and 2032; construction of a new school facility could take longer. Planning for the new Minnie Howard Campus, which opened last year, started in 2019.
Capacity at the schools is projected to cap at 117% by 2027, though it will go down to 111% by 2029. Data shows that school populations at ACPS are likely to decrease over the next ten years rather than increase.
Mayor Alyia Gaskins also noted that an update on the City’s land ownership could help make planning for a new school easier. Gaskins also said an updated facilities plan could smooth the annual budget tug-of-war between the City Council and School Board.
“One of the challenges we run into with budget season is not always having that long-range plan that pulls together both of our projects and considerations we’re all making,” Gaskins said. “I would add, as you’re mapping out the timing, having some kind of tool before we get deep into budget seasons that we can point to.”
“We would be happy to coordinate with the school system to take a look,” Director of Planning and Zoning Karl Moritz said.
