Alexandria City Public Schools

ACPS to hold public forum on fiscal 2027 budget Oct. 15

Published October 7, 2025 at 11:30AM

School buses on W. Braddock Road on Dec. 10, 2021 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Where should Alexandria City Public Schools prioritize funding in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2027 budget? The school system is soliciting feedback from the public at an upcoming meeting at Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard Campus.

While the School Board will unveil its fiscal forecast and budget priorities at its meeting on Thursday, Oct. 9, the public forum will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 15, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The theme of this year’s budget is Nurture, Educate, Inspire. Respondents who can’t attend can submit questions and comments to [email protected].

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DASH places 2 registered sex offenders on leave following ALXnow reporting

By James Cullum

Published September 24, 2025 at 6:00PM

Electric DASH bus, photo via DASH/Facebook

Following Tuesday’s story about DASH hiring policies not prohibiting sex offenders, the transit agency has placed two employees on the Virginia State Police registry on administrative leave to “assess the rigor of our recruitment standards and ensure we meet the highest standards in providing safe, fair, and accessible transit to our community.”

ALXnow looked into DASH’s hiring practices after the Alexandria School Board discussed safety concerns about a proposal to transport Alexandria City High School students on DASH buses starting next school year.

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Q&A: ACHS interim principal discusses 16-hour days, campus transitions, and supporting 4,000+ students

By James Cullum

Published September 24, 2025 at 3:30PM | Updated September 24, 2025 at 4:44PM

ACHS Interim Principal Lance Harrell speaks at Alexandria City High School's 25th anniversary celebration of the film Remember The Titans, Sept. 19, 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Lance Harrell has a big job, overseeing Alexandria City High School, the largest high school in Virginia.

Harrell says he’s working 10- to 16-hour days, with the longest days being Fridays, when there are football games. “I think the biggest change is just the added hours that I’ve been working,” Harrell told ALXnow in an interview on Wednesday.

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Amid school board safety concerns over student transport, DASH says it doesn’t ‘expressly prohibit’ hiring sex offenders

By James Cullum

Published September 23, 2025 at 5:52PM | Updated September 24, 2025 at 6:03PM

A DASH bus in Old Town Alexandria (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

UPDATE (Sept. 24, 2025): Following this reporting, DASH has placed both registered sex offenders on administrative leave. The transit agency said it is now assessing “the rigor of our recruitment standards” and confirmed that one of the employees is a bus driver, contradicting its initial statement Tuesday that no drivers were on the registry. DASH places 2 registered sex offenders on leave following ALXnow reporting

Following a discussion on the Alexandria School Board’s safety concerns about the proposal to transport Alexandria City High School students on DASH buses, ALXnow investigated the transit agency’s background check policies and discovered that it does not “expressly prohibit” sex offenders from employment.

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Alexandria schools join Fairfax County appeal over federal funding dispute

By Ryan Belmore

Published September 22, 2025 at 6:21PM

Alexandria City High School (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City Public Schools escalated its legal battle against the Trump administration Monday, filing a motion to intervene in Fairfax County’s appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and requesting emergency injunctive relief to halt federal funding restrictions tied to the district’s transgender student policies.

The development was first reported by Josh Gerstein, senior legal affairs reporter for Politico, who shared the 101-page court filing on social media Monday evening.

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Alexandria pastor’s Charlie Kirk comments lead this week’s top stories

By James Cullum

Published September 19, 2025 at 3:30PM | Updated September 19, 2025 at 3:47PM

The Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley delivers his Sunday sermon at Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Va., on Sept. 15, 2025. During the sermon, Wesley criticized the decision to fly flags at half-staff for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, calling Kirk "an unapologetic racist." (Screenshot via YouTube)

It’s been quite a week, Alexandria. Here’s a look at our top stories.

Our most-read story this week is on Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley sermonizing against President Trump’s decision to fly flags at half-staff across the country for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Speaking at the historic Alfred Street Baptist Church, Wesley condemned the Sept. 10 assassination, but said he should not be expected to honor Kirk, who he called an “unapologetic racist who spent all of his life sowing seeds of division and hate into this land.”

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Alexandria schools set Sept. 30 deadline for back-to-school forms

By James Cullum

Published September 19, 2025 at 1:00PM

George Mason Elementary School Principal Christopher Finan with students on the first day of school, August 21, 2023 (staff photo by James Cullum)

September 30 is the deadline for parents of Alexandria City Public Schools students to turn in back-to-school forms.

The school system states that the forms assist administrators with updating health information, providing points of contact for students, and addressing other significant changes. ACPS has also released videos in English (see below), Spanish, Amharic, and Dari on the forms.

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ACPS details redistricting timeline with limited deferrals, construction accommodations

By Ryan Belmore

Published September 19, 2025 at 10:42AM

Triangle Map 3 showing the approved redistricting boundaries with affected schools and study areas highlighted

Alexandria City Public Schools presented an implementation update Thursday during the school board meeting for redistricting changes approved in June, detailing how students will transition to newly assigned schools beginning with the 2026-27 academic year.

The redistricting implementation update was listed as a monitoring item on the Sept. 18 school board meeting agenda, providing information on the initial implementation of boundary changes the board voted to approve on June 12.

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Students voice strong opposition to DASH bus proposal in survey results

By Ryan Belmore

Published September 19, 2025 at 5:31AM | Updated September 19, 2025 at 2:28PM

Electric DASH bus, photo via DASH/Facebook

Three out of five Alexandria City High School students oppose the city’s proposal to replace school buses with DASH public transit, student representatives told the school board Thursday.

A survey of 131 high school students found 60.3% oppose the proposal — with 37.4% strongly opposed and 22.9% moderately opposed. Only 26% support the plan, while 13.7% reported being indifferent, according to data presented by student representative Madesen Lynch during the representatives’ regular update to the board.

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Warner slams federal ‘politicization’ of Alexandria schools

By Ryan Belmore

Published September 18, 2025 at 2:15PM

Senator Mark Warner during Virginia media availability on Sept. 18 (screenshot of video)

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner criticized the Trump administration’s targeting of Northern Virginia school districts over transgender bathroom policies during a media availability Thursday, calling the federal government’s actions against some of the state’s best school divisions “remarkable.”

Warner responded to a question from ALXnow about the timeline for potential federal funding cuts to Alexandria City Public Schools, which along with four other Northern Virginia districts faces ongoing disputes with the U.S. Department of Education over Title IX compliance.

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Alexandria schools see dramatic drop in student arrests, quarterly data shows

By James Cullum and Ryan Belmore

Published September 17, 2025 at 4:39PM

Alexandria Police at Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard Campus (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City Public Schools will present quarterly safety data to the School Board Thursday showing a dramatic decline in student arrests and court referrals, with 28 total cases during the 2024-25 school year compared to 69 the previous year.

The latest quarterly report covers 262 safety incidents between January and June, with 8 student court referrals and 6 arrests during the third and fourth quarters. This represents a 59% decrease from the 2023-24 school year.