An average of 4,800 speeding tickets are being issued every month in three Alexandria school zones, and the city’s school system will soon look for locations for future speed cameras.
The data was presented at a joint City Council/School Board Committee meeting at City Hall on Monday (Sept. 23).
The Alexandria Police Department (APD) said threats making the rounds on social media this week against Alexandria City Public Schools have been investigated and found to be not credible.
A release from APD said there would be a shooting at a school, though no specific school was mentioned. APD said the threats were assessed in collaboration with the Northern Virginia Regional Intelligence Center (NVRIC), a Fusion Center of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and found to be not credible. Similar threats have been circulating around the state and the country.
Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt said the school division is investigating threats reported against the local school division on social media.
No schools are currently closed as a result of the threats. Kay-Wyatt said in a message to the ACPS on Monday that the threats were not school-specific and are all being reported second-hand.
The last few years have been rough for Alexandria City Public Schools.
The school system and all involved with it have been impacted by the pandemic, learning loss, leadership changes, a staffing crisis, surging enrollment and more.
Locals helped Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) hit their goal to collect 3,500 backpacks filled with school supplies to students in need this year.
The backpacks are being distributed by school social workers to students. ACPS said over 30 partner organizations helped raise funds and supplies for the drive.
Alexandria City Public Schools will soon make public an enrollment dashboard revealing the number of students and teachers at their schools on a monthly basis.
ACPS must submit a monthly student membership report to the Virginia Department of Education, and that information will be made public in the new dashboard next month, according to the school system.
Not long after warning families that the bus driver shortage will impact schools, Alexandria City Public Schools said it’s staggering student dismissal because of the driver shortage and schedule changes at the high school.
According to a letter from Alicia Hart, chief operating officer for Facilities and Operations at Alexandria City Public Schools, the school division will start having staggered student dismissal times for mid-day shuttle transportation at Alexandria City High School.
Alexandria City Public Schools is offering bonuses for a number of “hard-to-fill positions,” like bus drivers and math, science and special education teachers.
The employees who already work in these jobs will all get a $1,000 retention bonus in their paychecks next month, according to ACPS.
A male juvenile in his early teens faces numerous charges after allegedly breaking into two Alexandria elementary schools and stealing equipment. The teenage suspect also posted pictures from inside one of the schools at 2 a.m. on Instagram, as well as a picture of a laptop computer belonging to the principal of Cora Kelly Elementary School.
The first incident occurred at Charles Barrett Elementary School (1115 Martha Custis Drive) on the afternoon of Friday, July 12. Security footage revealed a juvenile suspect enter the school main office at around 3:55 p.m. and pick up a portable speaker and take a photo of it, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.
Charles Barrett Elementary School in Arlandria evacuated earlier today due to smoke in the building, according to scanner traffic.
Around 11:26 a.m., the school was evacuated due to reports of smoke in the building. Around noon, the school was cleared for students to return to classes.
In what’s become an annual tradition at this point, the first week of school at Alexandria City High School was disrupted with a fire alarm.
Students were evacuated from the school a little after 2 p.m. today (Thursday). Students returned to the school less than 30 minutes later as the Alexandria Fire Department confirmed there was no danger.
