Alexandria School Board Chair Michelle Rief responded today to the stinging letter from the PTSA of Alexandria City High School laying out “serious concerns” with Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt and the school system’s central office.
While not naming Kay-Wyatt in the June 18 response, Rief wrote that the PTSA’s letter “rightly calls out the challenges that turnover can cause,” but listed several highlights from the school over the past year for context.
The PTSA’s letter followed the resignation of ACHS Executive Principal Alexander Duncan III, and said that seven veteran principals have left the school system in the last two years, “two of whom left immediately after winning Principal of the Year accolades.”
“We strongly urge each School Board member to insist on accountability for the loss of so many key personnel when evaluating the Superintendent’s performance and find ways to reverse this trend going forward,” the PTSA’s letter says.
With multiple campuses and nearly 5,000 students, ACHS is the largest public high school in Virginia.
Rief said that the Board is “saddened” by the loss of Duncan, and that the community needs to determine whether the current multi-campus, single-principal model at ACHS is working.
“If not, we must be willing to make the necessary adjustments,” Rief said.
Rief’s full letter is below:
June 18, 2025
Alexandria City High School PTSA Board,
Thank you for your letter dated June 16, 2025 and for your honest, passionate advocacy on behalf of the Alexandria City High School (ACHS) community. We know that the recent resignation of Executive Principal Alexander Duncan III has raised concerns about leadership stability. We share your commitment to ensuring every student has access to a safe, well-led, and thriving school, and we value your willingness to speak with urgency and clarity.
We are saddened by Executive Principal Duncan’s departure and grateful for the contributions he has made to ACHS. His steady, student-centered leadership helped guide the launch of the Academies model and contributed to recent gains in graduation outcomes and student support. We recognize the impact his departure will have on students, staff, and families, and we wish him continued success in his next role.
Your letter rightly calls out the challenges that turnover can cause. We hear you. At the same time, we want to offer some important context.
- Retention is improving, not declining. In the 2023–24 school year, Alexandria City Public Schools’ (ACPS) overall teacher and licensed staff retention rate rose to 89%, the second-highest rate in the last 10 years and nearly matching pre-pandemic highs. This reflects growing progress toward one of the key goals in our 2025–30 Strategic Plan: to recruit, develop, and retain a diverse and talented workforce.
- The executive principal role at ACHS is uniquely demanding. With nearly 5,000 students across four campuses, this is no ordinary principalship. In most other school divisions, it would resemble an assistant or cluster superintendent role. Any conversation about retention must include an honest assessment of how we have structured this position and may require additional budget support.
- Amid the challenge, students have made real gains. In 2024, ACHS’
on-time graduation rate reached 87%, the second-highest rate seen in ten years, and the highest without COVID-19 provisions. Also in 2024, both English Learner (EL) and economically disadvantaged student groups improved by ten percentage points, while dropout rates declined across multiple groups. These outcomes are not the result of luck; they are the result of administrators, educators, students, and families partnering together every day and doing the hard work. We also celebrated a milestone this year: the largest graduating class in Alexandria’s history, with 984 graduates in the Class of 2025.Ensuring consistent leadership at ACHS remains our highest priority. We wholeheartedly agree that strong and stable school leadership contributes directly to instructional success and the overall well-being of our school community. Acting Executive Principal Lance Harrell and Acting Minnie Howard Campus Administrator PreeAnn Johnson both bring deep experience and a steady hand to the role. They have our full support.
We also want to be honest about the bigger picture: the current multi-campus, single-principal model at ACHS was created years ago during a high school redesign. Now, it is up to all of us—School Board, staff, families and students—to determine if this structure is truly working. If not, we must be willing to make the necessary adjustments.
As the Alexandria City School Board, we are committed to listening deeply, being transparent about the decision-making process, and ensuring that ACPS becomes a place where people want to stay, grow, and thrive. We know that trust must be earned, and we are committed to doing the necessary work.
Thank you again for your letter and for your partnership. We look forward to continuing this work, not just to name a new principal, but to strengthen ACHS and ACPS for years to come.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michelle Rief
Chair, Alexandria City School Board
