The Alexandria City School Board on Thursday (July 9) unanimously elected new leadership for the next year.
Without opposition, School Board Member Christopher Harris was elected as chair, and Alexander Crider Scioscia was elected vice chair. Both are graduates of Alexandria City High School (when it was T.C. Williams High School), and the one-year appointments went into effect in the beginning of Thursday night’s meeting.
Harris said that his goal will be to lead the School Board through less division and more solutions.
“The community is counting on us to lead with integrity, purpose and focus,” Harris said after being confirmed as chair. “I accept this responsibility with humility and confidence. Let’s get to work.”
Harris, who was first elected to represent District C on the School Board in 2021, was vice chair for the last year under now-former Chair Michelle Rief. He thanked Rief for her work.
“It will be a huge lift for me to compare with her work ethic,” Harris said.
Harris is a lifelong Alexandrian and by day is an environmental health and safety lead at DPR Construction.
Rief was elected to the Board in 2018 and served as chair for the last three years. She nominated Scioscia, who was first elected in 2024, for vice chair.
“I found him to be someone with integrity and a strong work ethic, and I’m proud to make this nomination,” Rief said of Scioscia.
The leadership change comes as the longer term lengths, staggered elections and a size reduction are being considered for the nine-member School Board. At Thursday’s meeting, the School Board appointed Abdulahi Abdalla and Kelly Carmichael Booz to the City-ACPS Ad Hoc Committee on ACPS School Board Election Reform, with Ashley Simpson-Baird serving as alternate.
School Board Member Ryan Reyna said that Harris doesn’t shrink from asking hard questions.
“Chris doesn’t choose consensus for its own sake,” Reyna said.
Scioscia, who graduated from ACHS in 2017, said the leadership change represents a renewal of the work of the board under Rief, and he’ll focus on helping Harris succeed as chair.
“I’m not taking this lightly,” Scioscia said. “I will give this my all.”
Harris said that although Scioscia is young, he is serving institutions that helped shape him.
“I believe in you,” Harris told Scioscia. “I see you, trust you and I’m proud to serve alongside you.”
Image via ACPS/Facebook
