The final touches are being made to Alexandria City High School’s expansion of its Minnie Howard Campus.
The five-story, $174 million high school project is on-budget and on-track for “substantial completion this spring,” according to an Alexandria City Public School staff report that will be presented to the School Board on Thursday.
“Construction of the new Minnie Howard building has been ongoing since the spring of 2022 and is on track to be substantially completed this spring for occupancy in August 2024,” staff wrote.
The 1,600-student school, which nearly doubled in its capacity, will feature an aquatics facility and expanded career and technical education (CTE) lab spaces for “potential new offerings in game design/development, robotics, emergency medical sciences, cyber security, (and) firefighting,” according to ACPS.
Staff also reported that construction the gymnasium and auxiliary gym are complete, that furniture is being moved in and that interior finishing touches are being made.
Next steps for the project include inspection by the Health Department and getting a final occupancy permit.
It was standing-room-only at a City Council budget hearing yesterday (Monday) and most of the speakers had one of two things on their mind: affordable housing and fully funding Alexandria City Public Schools.
The push for more funding to the city’s affordable housing programs came from a mix of housing nonprofit leaders and residents from neighborhoods like Arlandria/Chirilagua staring down the barrel at gentrification.
“We recognize that $12 million for the Housing Trust Fund isn’t enough to reach each affordable housing target,” said Jill Norcross, executive director of the Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance.
Norcross and others called for the city to fund the Community Lodgings redevelopment of Elbert Avenue Apartments and Wesley Housing’s ParcView II development for a total of 464 affordable housing, much of it considered ‘deeply affordable’ — ie for residents at around 40% of area median income or lower income levels.
At least half of those in City Council chambers were there with Tenants and Workers United (TWU), an organization that supports low-income communities of color, immigrants, low-wage workers and more.
“Our families are not part of the city’s growth,” said Ingris Moran, a lifelong resident of Alexandria and community organizer for TWU. “We do not see proactive tools that will stabilize our families and keep our families in the city.”
As the city prepares for redevelopment at the former Landmark site and Potomac Yard, Moran said residents in Arlandria and low-income communities fear displacement. Moran said TWU supports the city investing $10 million to create a voucher program for families earning less than 40% of AMI, investment into the expansion of the guaranteed income pilot, and funding for the aforementioned affordable housing projects.
“The City needs to make bold decisions to make good, sustainable investments,” Moran said. “The City Council supporting funding, creating and expanding these programs would be the City Council supporting working class families in the city.”
Carlos Rubio, an Arlandria resident, said wages have not kept pace with rent increases around Arlandria. Rubio asked the City Council to provide support through rent relief programs.
“Last year I had to leave my apartment where I was living for 20 years,” Rubio said. “I was okay leaving there, but then suddenly I received a rent increase that was way too high for me. It was more than a $400 increase. Now I live in another property, where it’s not that affordable but it is better.”
The other half of the public comment, on the other hand, primarily featured teachers and parents pushing for the City Council to fully fund the Alexandria City Public Schools’ $384.4 million combined budget request by the School Board. That budget has been a battleground for City Council and School Board leadership, with many on the Council expressing displeasure at a lack of long-term planning in the school budget and last-minute budget requests.
Mayor Justin Wilson told the School Board that fully funding that budget would require a six-cent tax rate increase, calling the proposal not viable.
Advocates from the ACPS community said, regardless of the enmity between the boards, the City Council should fully fund the ACPS budget.
“I recognize this city is facing a difficult year, however, without a strong public school system, we run the risk of negatively affecting the entire city,” said ACPS parent Catie Brownback. “As we continue to increase affordable housing options in this city, which we should do, we will also increase the enrollment in our public school system. With the rising cost of living, we can’t expect the budget to stay flat. Please help keep Alexandria a thriving city long-term by fully funding our schools.”
Twenty three Alexandria middle schoolers and eight Alexandria City High School students were arrested in the first two quarters of this school year, according to a report that the School Board will receive Thursday.
There were also 213 incidents requiring a police response, including five weapons-related incidents, 43 students needing EMS assistance, 56 fights/assaults and three reports of sexual assault.
Weapons seized include three stun guns/tasers, a pellet gun and a knife.
There were 17 students arrested in the first two quarters of the 2022-2023 school year (last year), and 41 arrested in the final two quarters, totaling 58 arrests and resulting in a 26% increase in students arrested over the previous school year.
Of those arrested so far this year, 20 of them were Black students, making up 55%.
There were 95 incidents reported at the Alexandria City High School campuses, 70 incidents at the city’s two middle schools (Francis C Hammond and George Washington Middle Schools), 35 incidents at elementary schools and 13 incidents at K-8 schools.
There were also 118 police calls for service — 56 at the high school campuses, 46 at the middle schools, four at K-8 schools and 12 at elementary schools.
Incidents in the first semester of this school year include:
- 57 incidents characterized as “other” (including two students discussing weapons, four cases of disorderly conduct, two reports of public intoxication, one fraudulent 911 call)
- 56 fights/assaults
- 43 injuries that required medical assistance
- Five confiscated weapons
- Nine controlled substances
- Nine threats (verbal/cyber/social media)
- Six missing student reports
- Four reports of suspicious activity
- Three alarms pulled
- Three reports of sexual misconduct
- Six thefts
- Seven reports of possessing prohibited materials
The Alexandria School Board unanimously authorized starting the collective bargaining process with its teachers and licensed staff Thursday night, kickstarting an extensive period of negotiation on employee rights, wages and benefits.
A number of Alexandria teachers an union representatives voiced their displeasure, however, with stipulations in the ACPS draft collective bargaining resolution.
The 17-page document states ACPS will bargain with an employee organization if 30% of those bargaining employees (also known in groups as “units”) endorse it. The draft resolution also outlines rules for a three-year agreement that would cover four yet-to-be-identified topics. After the agreement expires three years later, two additional topics could be added for negotiation. Topics covered could include wages, benefits and terms and conditions of employment.
“We want a normal, democratic election without an election participation threshold,” said Dawn Lucas, president of the Education Association of Alexandria (EAA).
Last October, EAA started the collective bargaining process by sending the Board an employee certification submission on behalf of all licensed teachers. That submission gave the Board 120 days to authorize the collective bargaining process by Feb. 13. A full board action on the resolution is anticipated to occur on Thursday, March 21.
School Board Chair Michelle Rief said that she anticipates a future public hearing dedicated to the collective bargaining resolution.
“This has been a long time coming, for sure,” Rief said. “At the end of the day we really want our teachers to know that we value you.”
ACPS is currently experiencing a staffing crisis, and James Rutigliano, a second grade teacher at Jefferson-Houston K-8 School, said that without an agreement that he and other teachers will quit.
“Talented teachers will not come to ACPs if they feel their labor, ideas, and work product will be exploited,” Rutigliano told the Board. “We must negotiate in good faith, and an election participation threshold is simply undemocratic. It tells our students and our community that the voice will only matter if and only if they hold power.”
The draft resolution also says that there will be two bargaining units, one made of licensed personnel (teachers, school counselors, specialists, librarians, school psychologists, social workers, speech pathologists, department chairs, and 10-month, 11-month, and 12-month Licensed Personnel) and a second unit made up of “education support professionals.” Administrative employees are not included in the draft agreement. They include principals, assistant principals and supervisors.
Rief said last month that the school system wants to reach a collective bargaining agreement by the end of this calendar year. Such a deadline means that any major changes to staff benefits and compensation could be realized with next year’s passage of the Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
School Board Member Tim Beaty, a former leader with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, won a recent special election by mostly campaigning on the importance of collective bargaining. He said that it might be helpful for EAA and the School Board to discuss the school system’s needs in a meeting.
“I’m persuaded by the arguments that were made that it would be helpful to have a direct conversation between the Board and the EAA about the draft resolution,” Beaty said.
Lucas said that it feels as if the needs and desires of her members were not considered when ACPS created the draft resolution. She said that the association wants bargaining rights for all employees, including licensed staff, support staff, and administrators.
“All employees deserve bargaining rights,” Lucas said. “We want the right to bargain over the many topics related to our working and learning conditions, including current policies, regulations, procedures and practices. If we are unable to bargain over the terms and conditions of employment, there is very little, if anything, left to bargain.”
Alexandria approved collective bargaining in 2021, after former Governor Ralph Northam announced the law in 2020. It took the city nearly two years to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with police and firefighters.
An Alexandria City High School student suffered a suspected non-fatal overdose inside the school, Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt announced to parents this afternoon.
“I am writing to make you aware of a suspected school-connected, non-fatal student overdose that happened today at Alexandria City High School — King St. Campus,” Kay-Wyatt wrote.
The last suspected overdose at ACHS was on Dec. 15.
Kay-Wyatt directed families to the Alexandria City Public Schools substance abuse education and prevention page.
According to ACPS:
For any student who wants to share any thoughts or feelings they may have at this time, there are resources in place. At ACHS, students can aleays reach out to a counselor, administrator or any trusted adult in the school if they are in need of help. Our students can also reach out to CrisiText and Crisis Link at any time, 24/7, through the contacts below:
- Text: CONNECT to 85511
- Call CrisisLink: 703-527-4077
We encourage all students, staff and families to please share any concerns you may have about substance abuse within our schools using our anonymous reporting system that is accessible in multiple languages,. All tips are anonymous and are responded to in a timely manner.
Additionally, a fire alarm was pulled at ACHS at around 1:45 p.m., the school was evacuated and no fire or emergency was found, according to the Fire Department scanner.
Alexandria City Public Schools officials want to reach a collective bargaining agreement by the end of this year, and a resolution to approve the process will be presented to the School Board next week.
The draft collective bargaining resolution was reviewed last Thursday by the Board’s Collective Bargaining Committee, and Board Chair Michelle Rief said that the school system has a goal of coming to an agreement with staff by the end of this year. Such a deadline means that any major changes to staff benefits and compensation would be realized with next year’s passage of the Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
“Just to be clear, we are looking and doing this, depending on how it goes, this year in 2024,” Rief said last Thursday night.
In October, the Education Association of Alexandria (EAA) formally started the process by sending the Board an employee certification submission on behalf of all licensed teachers. That submission gave the Board 120 days to adopt a collective bargaining resolution with a deadline of Feb. 13. The Board will be presented with the resolution for adoption at its upcoming meeting on Thursday, Feb. 8, and a full board action is expected at the March 21 school board meeting.
“This is something that can go really well or really not well,” said Board Member Meagan Alderton. “I think we are on the path of doing really well, and so we need to continue that path and be deliberate and intentional about everything we do.”
ACPS is looking for a three-year agreement that covers four topics, which have yet to be identified. Those topics could include wages, benefits and terms and conditions of employment, and every subsequent negotiation can include the addition of two additional topics, according to the draft resolution.
The school system is currently experiencing a staffing crisis, and the proposed $374 million fiscal year 2025 budget provides a full step increase and a 2% market rate adjustment for eligible staff. It does not, however, provide a cost of living increase.
ACPS middle school teacher David Paladin Fernandez has been vocal in asking the Board and city leaders for wage increases for staff.
“Educator retention and pay are serious issues, and I want to see ACPs leadership making bold choices,” he said.
Alexandria was first Northern Virginia jurisdiction to pass the measures for employee rights and wages in 2021, after former Governor Ralph Northam announced statewide implementation of the law in 2020. It took Alexandria nearly two years to negotiate collective bargaining for police and firefighters, who both saw increases in pay budgeted into the city’s fiscal year 2024 budget.
Dawn Lucas has been EAA president for nearly a decade and said that the organization will be tapping into its membership in the coming days to elect a bargaining representative and identify bargaining issues.
“I would have never thought this would happen, for us to have collective bargaining rights in the state of Virginia,” Lucas said. “When that happened, we knew
that we could possibly be on the path to come into this day.”
The draft resolution says the following:
Whereas, in April 2020, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation permitting local governing bodies, including school boards to enter into collective bargaining agreements with respect to any matter relating to employment provided by the public body adopts an ordinance or resolution authorizing as much; and
Whereas, pursuant to section 40.1 Dash five 7.2 C of Virginia code, any school board that has not adopted a resolution providing for collective bargaining may receive any employee certification was the federal majority of employees who self identify as a bargaining unit, and within 120 days of receipt of such employee certification shall take a vote on whether to adopt or not adopt a resolution to provide for collective bargaining; and
Whereas, the Code of Virginia does not require or any school board to adopt the resolution authorizing collective bargaining; and
Whereas, on October 16 2023, the school board clerk received an employee certification submission from the Education Association of Alexandria on behalf of all licensed teachers; and
Whereas, the school board has 120 days from the date, the certification was submitted, or until February 13, 2024, to take a vote to adopt or not adopt a resolution to provide for collective bargaining,
Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Alexandria City School Board hereby agreed to adopt this resolution authorizing collective bargaining by licensed teachers and any other school board employees deemed appropriate by the Alexandria City School Board; and
Be it further resolved that the Alexandria City School Board shall adopt a collective bargaining resolution no later than 60 days after the adoption of this resolution; and
Be it further resolved, that the execution of this resolution is conclusive evidence of Alexandria School Board’s approval of this action.
(Updated at 4 p.m. on Jan. 29) Critics contend that the proposed Alexandria City Public Schools budget shortchanges staff, but that’s not what the superintendent is saying.
Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt says that her proposed $374 million fiscal year 2025 budget focuses on retention with a full step increase and a 2% market rate adjustment for eligible staff. The school system is currently experiencing a staffing crisis, and the budget also increases bus driver salaries to $24 an hour for new drivers and more than $47 per hour for senior drivers with more than a decade experience with the school system. The budget also opens the door to the creation of a collective bargaining agreement with staff.
At Thursday night’s public hearing on Kay-Wyatt’s budget, Alexandria Middle School teacher David Paladin Fernandez said that the school system needs to come to a collective bargaining agreement. He also said that the budget does not provide a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for staff.
“If I asked everyone in this room if our educators deserved more, I have no doubt that every single one of us would say yes,” Fernandez told the School Board. “We’ve had a record exodus of top-tier educators to surrounding school districts with no plan to address it, and we have members of ACPS leadership suggesting the preposterous idea that a step (increase) is the same thing as a cost of living adjustment… A step is related to my experience and loyalty to the organization and a cost of living adjustment is related to larger economic realities we have no control over. They are not the same thing and they should be recognized in this budget.”
ACPS Chief Financial Officer Dominic Turner said in a Jan. 11 School Board retreat that the school system has seen a lot of turnover in school leadership over the past several years. An ACPS teacher with a bachelor’s degree makes about $58,000 and an ACPS teacher with a master’s degree makes an average of $90,000, and the majority of ACPS teachers are on a Master’s degree scale.
“In the past three years we’ve had 14 new principals and we’ve had 20 new members on the SLT (senior leadership team),” Turner told the Board.
Robin Benatti is the parent of an 8th grader and 6th grader at Francis C. Hammond Middle School, and said at the public hearing that she was “appalled that the budget does not include a COLA.
“This poor decision is going to hurt our students, and further damage our reputation,” Benatti told the Board Thursday. “Teachers in ACPS deserve to make reasonable compensation. This proposal falls short, big time. The struggle to hire qualified teachers for our extremely dense school district will only intensify if you don’t also include a COLA. Be bold. Be aggressive in your position to show the community that you believe in investing in our educational talent.”
Alicia Hosmer has children at Alexandria City High School and at Hammond, and said that a COLA will make the school system more attractive for staff.
“My 8th grader and his classmates have been without an Algebra teacher and their learning is suffering,” Hosmer told the Board. “We cannot recruit and keep top talent when surrounding districts such as Fairfax and Arlington are proposing to give teachers both a COLA and step increases. We will lose more teachers to surrounding districts which means more empty classrooms and more strain on the teachers who remain with ACPS.”
School Board Member Meagan Alderton said at the Jan. 11 retreat that a positive work environment is as important incentive as compensation for staff retention.
“I think pay is 100% essential,” Alderton said. “But we need to be thinking about the job environment we provide to make people want to stay in this profession. There are plenty of people who just love teaching, who love education, and I do believe that if people feel successful in this work, that will also make them stay.”
In the meantime, Board Chair Michelle Rief is concerned that the budget is asking for a 4% increase in the city’s appropriation ($258.69 million) and a 4.1% increase from the state (about $2.5 million), but that the Governor’s proposed budget would transfer only 2-to-3% of requested funding.
“If we don’t receive the state and the city funding that we need, we are not going to be able to pass this budget,” Rief said.
ACPS will hold a public meeting on collective bargaining on Jan. 25. The Board will adopt its budget on Feb. 16, and it will then be incorporated into City Manager Jim Parajon’s budget, which will be presented on March 14.
Somebody in Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) is making the proper sacrifices to the snow gods: Alexandria students and teachers will have another snow day tomorrow (Friday).
Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt said the school system will have another snow day tomorrow — i.e. no virtual learning will take place — after getting one earlier this week on Tuesday. With MLK Day on Monday, ACPS students only attended classes on Wednesday and Thursday.
“Due to the inclement weather forecast, all Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) schools and offices will be closed on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024,” Kay-Wyatt said in a release. “All in-person activities are canceled. This is a traditional snow day and no virtual learning will take place for students.”
All afternoon and evening programs on ACPS grounds will also be canceled.
True to the legacy of the titan Prometheus, Alexandria City High School’s Titan Robotics team is celebrating ten years on the cutting edge of discovery and innovation.
Titan Robotics kicked off its tenth season earlier this month.
Titan Robotics is a student-led organization that started at ACHS in 2014. The group participates in the FIRST Robotics Competition and participates in various science and mathematics-focused outreach programs.
The team consists of around 40 ACHS students working, over eight weeks, to design, manufacture, build and program a robot. This year, the teams are working on creating a robot capable of moving foam rings across a field the width of a full-size basketball court and shooting them into goals before time runs out.
The competitions are as much about collaborating and strategizing as a team as testing the team’s scientific know-how.
According to a release from the team:
Teams plan and practice individually or collaboratively, and then at the tournaments, teams compete in random alliances with other teams for qualification matches. Each match sets three teams against three others. For qualification matches, teams often end up playing against their former alliance partners. As the tournament progresses, 30 teams form eight alliances to move from qualification matches to the elimination rounds.
Titan Robotics will take their creations to a district competition on March 2 and March 3 in Ashland, then in a second competition on March 23 and March 24 in Falls Church.
Photo via Titan Robotics/Facebook
After years in development, the School Board will vote Thursday night on a new logo for Alexandria City Public Schools, and Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt is recommending Logo 1, according to a staff presentation.
“After careful consideration by the ACPS leadership team and consideration of the community input, the superintendent recommends that the School Board accept Logo 1 as the new logo and brand to represent Alexandria City Public Schools,” ACPS said in the presentation. “Some logo elements may be refined when finalizing the final logo version.”
The preferred option depicts the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, which was initially designed to resemble the lighthouse in ancient Alexandria, Egypt.
“The new logo incorporates the George Washington Masonic National Memorial which was inspired by the lighthouse of ancient Alexandria, Egypt, and designed to reflect the lighthouse in Ostia, Rome,” said ACPS. “The idea was to spread knowledge, which is symbolized by light, a fitting nod to ACPS. The design also incorporates the water that surrounds Alexandria and translates into a pencil to symbolize learning at the tip of the shield.”
The second option combines a school house with a person, with shaded pieces coming together to form the whole student, according to ACPS.
The last time ACPS tried to get their logo changed was in 2022, when the School Board voted 7-2 in denial of several options.
ACPS says that 362 responses from an online forum were important in Kay-Wyatt’s endorsement of Logo 1, along with “careful” consideration by ACPS leadership. The approved logo will be effective following approval by the School Board and implemented throughout 2024.
The forum responses:
Logo 1
- 55.5% believe it represents ACPS
- 30% believe it does not represent ACPS
- 14.4% somewhat believe it represents ACPS
- 64.4% believe it has image appeal
- 44.5% believe it has color appeal
- 27.1% believe it has no appeal
Logo 2
- 16.3% believe it represents ACPS
- 57.2% believe it does not represent ACPS
- 26.5% believe it somewhat represents ACPS
- 20.2% believe it has image appeal
- 30.4% believe it has color appeal
- 61.3% believe it has no appeal
As of Tuesday afternoon (Jan. 16), the ACPS Facebook post on the logos had more than 130 comments, many of which are negative. Many online commenters wrote that the logos represent misplaced priorities by a school system experiencing a staffing crisis.