ACPS | ALXnow - Part 46

City Council to determine fate of ACPS School Resource Officer program tonight

Published May 3, 2021 at 10:45AM

The Alexandria City Council will finalize their additions and deletions to the fiscal year 2022 budget tonight (May 3), and the future of school resource officers at Alexandria City Public Schools remains in question.

Last week, a majority of City Council was in favor of discontinuing the SRO program and diverting nearly $800,000 to “add mental health resources for school aged children, support staff to the Teen Wellness Center, an additional Behavioral Health Specialist to the ACORP (Alexandria Crisis Intervention Co-Responding Program) Pilot, and other similar needs identified by staff.”

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ALXnow’s top posts this week in Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published April 30, 2021 at 3:30PM

An Alexandria police cruiser (Staff photo by James Cullum)

It was a busy week in Alexandria. Here are some of the highlights.

Governor Ralph Northam and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited Alexandria this week. Northam stopped by Pacers Running in Old Town, and afterward met with Cardona, Mayor Justin Wilson, National Education Association of the United States President Becky Pringle and Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane at Ferdinand T. Day Elementary School. Cardona was at the school as part of his “Help is Here” school reopening tour.

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School Resource Officers at ACPS on chopping block as Police chief proposes alternative program

By James Cullum

Published April 28, 2021 at 1:00PM | Updated April 28, 2021 at 1:25PM

Alexandria City Hall (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

Alexandria City Councilors seemed surprised by Police Chief Michael Brown on Tuesday night, when he presented an alternate plan to Council Mo Seifeldein’s proposal to reappropriate nearly $800,000 in School Resource Officer funding for mental health resources for school aged children.

“The proposal is to cut the funding and redirect it,” Mayor Justin Wilson said. “It sounds like the Chief is talking about something that involves retaining the funding, and making changes to the way the folks are operating.”

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Morning Notes

By James Cullum

Published April 28, 2021 at 5:00AM

Sheriff’s Office warns of phone scammers — “If you receive a call from someone saying they are from the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office (or any other law enforcement agency) and that you have to pay them money, hang up. Scammers will try a variety of approaches to intimidate and coerce people into giving them money. But actual sheriffs’ offices in Virginia will never call you and demand money.” [Twitter]

April 30 deadline for logo design contest for Alexandria City High School — “All ACPS currently enrolled students are invited to participate in a logo design contest to represent the new high school name Alexandria City High School. The deadline to submit an entry is April 30, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. See the complete competition guidelines and rules. Logo entries must be uploaded through the Logo Design Submission Form. Featured above are the previous logos used for T.C. Williams. More information about designs for Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School will be shared in the coming weeks.” [ACPS]

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Scholarship Fund of Alexandria raises $450K in annual gala

By James Cullum

Published April 27, 2021 at 4:45PM

The Scholarship Fund of Alexandria has done it again. On Saturday, the nonprofit raised more than $450,000 for college-bound Alexandria students at its annual gala, which was held virtually for the second year in a row.

The gala was held this year at Jack Taylor’s Alexandria Toyota, which also raffled off a $25,000 Toyota RAV-4 to T.C. Williams High School biology teacher Jennifer Darque. More than 400 dinners and deals were also auctioned off in the event, which was attended in-person by Mayor Justin Wilson and his wife, Alex Crawford-Batt, who received a SFA scholarship when she was a student.

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Parents and students protest for expanded in-person instruction outside ACPS Central Office

By ALXnow.com

Published April 27, 2021 at 10:00AM | Updated April 27, 2021 at 1:34PM

Protesting outside of ACPS Central Office on Monday, April 26, 2021. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

Surrounded by about 100 other protestors outside of Alexandria City Public Schools’ Central Office, Kathryn Grassmeyer started to cry.

The mother of three wants schools to reopen to four or five days a week, and got emotional when talking about some of the difficult choices she and her husband have made regarding their children’s education.

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Demolition begins at Douglas MacArthur Elementary School

By James Cullum

Published April 26, 2021 at 10:45AM

The day has finally come for Douglas MacArthur Elementary School.

On Monday, members of the community and Alexandria City Public Schools leadership watched as a demolition crew started tearing down the World War II-era building.

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Morning Notes

By James Cullum

Published April 26, 2021 at 5:00AM

T.C. Williams completes comeback to win school’s first volleyball state championship — “For a moment, T.C. Williams sophomore Milan Rex was scared. The Titans were trailing Kellam two sets to one in the Virginia Class 6 championship Friday in Alexandria, and the chance at a perfect season seemed to be fading. Coach A.J. DeSain reminded the Titans they belonged in this moment, enabling Rex to lock in. She then powered T.C. Williams to a 23-25, 25-19, 18-25, 25-19, 17-15 victory — the program’s first state title. [Washington Post]

Mayor Wilson defends donation from Planning Commission Chair — “Planning Commission Chair Nathan Macek gave Wilson a donation the day after Wilson voted with the majority of council to reappoint Macek to his post. Macek’s employer, the engineering firm WSP, has played a leading role in numerous large projects in Alexandria, including the under-construction Potomac Yard Metro.” [Alex Times]

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ALXnow’s top stories this week in Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published April 23, 2021 at 4:15PM

It was another week full of news in Alexandria. Here are the top headlines of the week.

Our top story was on the 34-year-old Arlington man charged with distributing methamphetamine after reporting to police that he was the victim of an armed robbery in his fifth floor room at the Embassy Suites in Old Town. The investigating officer asked if there was anything illegal in the man’s room, and he reportedly said, “There is some meth in the room, but it’s for personal use.”

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JUST IN: ‘Open ACPS!’ group to rally in front of Central Office on Monday

By James Cullum

Published April 23, 2021 at 3:35PM | Updated April 23, 2021 at 4:27PM

Residents from the local citizen group Open ACPS! are planning to rally outside Central Office of Alexandria City Public Schools on Monday.

The rally will coincide with the joint City Council/School Board Subcommittee Meeting.

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ACPS looking for more space this fall, opening 4-day instruction for special needs students in early May

By James Cullum

Published April 23, 2021 at 11:17AM | Updated April 23, 2021 at 3:04PM

Alexandria City Public Schools will open to four days of in-person instruction starting the first week of May, according to ACPS staff.

There are 1,700+ special needs students in ACPS, and only a fraction of those students who require services in specialized citywide programs will return four days a week, according to ACPS.