The 2021-2022 school year was “crazy”, says René Islas, the parent of four Alexandria City Public Schools students.
Islas leads The Community Group, a new movement of locals with a list of safety recommendations for the city and school system. After a school year punctuated by violent events, Islas said ACPS needs to work on prevention, justice, and accountability.
Alexandria City Public Schools expects its interim superintendent to serve for the entire 2022-2023 school year, according to a new job listing for the position.
“It is anticipated that this opportunity could last for the entirety of SY22-23,” ACPS said on the job listing, which was posted on Thursday (June 30). “The Interim Superintendent will report to and work in partnership with the Alexandria City School Board to carry out the vision and strategic goals of the division to ensure the success of students, employees, and the overall school community while the search for the permanent superintendent is underway.”
Alexandria City Public Schools want input from the community on the “intensive search” for an interim superintendent.
Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr.’s resignation goes into effect at the end of August, and the interim superintendent will be chosen by July 28.
After months of work, two logo redesigns for Alexandria City Public Schools were sent back to the drawing board.
Last Thursday night (June 16), the School Board voted 7-2 against staff’s preferred option. Only Board Members Willie Bailey and Christopher Harris voted for the preferred logo option.
While last week was bookended with another murder and the Superintendent Gregory Hutchings Jr.’s resignation — still the top story a week later — this week was a little quieter.
Alexandria City Public Schools and the City of Alexandria are working on a response to violence in local schools. The city is also working with regional partners on plans to get through the next few months of a Metro shutdown.
Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) is hoping to head into the next school year with a better way for families to provide feedback in languages other than English.
Alexandria’s School Board approved the formation of Spanish, Amharic and Arabic-speaking advisory committees for the upcoming 2022-2023 school year.
The Alexandria School Board approved changes to their operating procedures on Thursday night (June 16), and updated rules on engagement with the media.
The operating procedures are a guide for Members’ behavior in office — and state that comments made to media by Board members will “likely be interpreted by the public as an official statement of the Board,” and that all statements (when Members are designated to speak on behalf of the board) must be sent to the Board Chair and Superintendent. The changes now state that School Board Members must now avoid directly communicating with ACPS staff “about Division business”, and clarified language to say that Board members will now receive all written responses to media made by the Alexandria City Public Schools communications team.
Alexandria Vice Mayor Amy Jackson took fire from one of her colleagues Tuesday night (June 14) against the appointment of former School Board Member Christopher Lewis to the Alexandria City Public Schools Law Enforcement Partnership (SLEP) Advisory Committee.
Jackson said that Lewis already serves on the city’s Community Policing Review Board and recommended Mike Mackey, the director of the Alexandria Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Service Unit.
Mayor Justin Wilson says its time to take a step back and reassess Alexandria’s approach to student safety.
In a joint City Council meeting with the School Board on Monday night (June 13), Wilson said that the community needs to be educated on how the city and school system plan to make schools safer.
In the wake of the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Luis Mejia Hernandez, the Alexandria City Council is taking an active role in reducing violence in schools, according to a Council memo that will be discussed tonight (June 13).
Up for discussion is the creation of “a citywide, multi-year plan with clear objectives, activities, agency roles and contributions, and performance metrics” by this September, as well as a youth safety and violence prevention summit by the end of July.
Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. resigned abruptly on Friday morning (June 10).
Hutchings’ resignation comes after a tumultuous few weeks for the school division, following a closed-door session asking the School Board to not talk with the media and about the fatal stabbing death of a student.
