Alexandria City Public Schools

ACPS Superintendent Hutchings defends critical race theory, says schools should abolish policing

Published April 8, 2022 at 2:30PM | Updated April 8, 2022 at 4:56PM

Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Hutchings is making a case for critical race theory (CRT) and abolishing policing practices, although not within the school system he manages.

In an opinion piece published by EducationWeek on April 6 (Wednesday), Hutchings said that school systems need to employ six steps if they want to “embrace” building an anti-racist school or school system. In “The Anti-Racist Counternarrative Public Education Needs Now: Six steps for escaping the trap of attacks on ‘critical race theory’“, Hutchings wrote that most public school educators never heard of the term before it became politicized during the 2020 election cycle.

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Alexandria breaks ground on new Minnie Howard campus expansion

By Vernon Miles

Published March 30, 2022 at 10:45AM

Minnie Howard groundbreaking, photo via Canek Aguirre/Twitter

The long-discussed and debated Minnie Howard project — part of adapting Alexandria City High School to handle ever-increasing capacity — finally broke ground yeterday.

City and school officials gathered at the site to mark the beginning of construction on a new Minnie Howard campus. The project is scheduled to be constructed around the current school and open in the 2024-2025 school year.

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Extension of school resource officers program will give ACPS time to map out future, says superintendent

By James Cullum

Published March 25, 2022 at 3:00PM

Alexandria Police cruiser (staff photo by James Cullum)

Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. wants another year of funding for the school resource officer program — time he says that will allow Alexandria City Public Schools to map out its future without a rush.

Hutchings says the extension will allow for the formation of a School Law Enforcement Advisory Group next month, which will closely study the SRO program and hammer out a proposal for a new bi-annual memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Alexandria Police Department in December.

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Suspect breaks into Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy through roof

By James Cullum

Published March 21, 2022 at 1:00PM | Updated March 22, 2022 at 11:38AM

Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy at 530 S. St. Asaph Street in Old Town. (via Facebook)

(Updated at 11:30 a.m. on March 22) Not much was taken in an overnight break-in at Lyle’s Crouch Traditional Academy earlier this month, although the suspect gained entry through the roof and no alarms went off.

On Wednesday morning, March 9, staff at the elementary school at 530 S. St. Asaph Street in Old Town called police after finding classrooms vandalized. Parents were not notified of the incident since there is no threat to school safety.

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Superintendent advises Alexandria School Board to not talk to the media

By James Cullum

Published March 15, 2022 at 1:00PM | Updated June 8, 2022 at 11:48AM

ACPS Headquarters in Alexandria (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Updated at 6:30 p.m. — The Alexandria School Board on Monday (March 14) was advised against talking to the media, as the Board received a refresher on their operating procedures.

Board members were told that they have to be careful of what they say out of concern for the division as a whole, prompting some members to question toeing the line of Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. and staff.

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Update: Just 75 cases of COVID-19 reported in Alexandria since last week

By James Cullum

Published March 14, 2022 at 2:15PM

Dining in Old Town. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

There were just 75 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Alexandria since this time last week, according to the Alexandria Health Department.

There are now 29,809 reported cases of the virus in Alexandria, up from 29,734 last Monday. The number of deaths remains at 184, and the seven day average of daily new cases is now 21, down from 84.5 this time last week.

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ALXnow’s top stories this week in Alexandria

By Vernon Miles

Published March 11, 2022 at 3:45PM

It’s been a busy week in Alexandria, with some controversies at the school, city, and even state levels.

At ACPS, a new report detailed the arrests and safety incidents that have occurred in this school year, and then last night some School Board leaders butted heads over a lack of transparency in the creation of a new advisory board to review school safety issues.

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School Board meeting gets heated over formation of school law enforcement advisory group

By James Cullum

Published March 11, 2022 at 10:10AM | Updated March 11, 2022 at 3:47PM

School Board Chair Meagan Alderton tells Board members that they need to focus at the March 10 meeting. (Via ACPS)

A miscommunication on the formation of an advisory group left the Alexandria School Board in disarray on Thursday night (March 10).

As expected, Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. and staff discussed the creation of a school law enforcement partnership (SLEP) advisory group, but Board Member Tammy Ignacio was not pleased with communication between Board members on proposed edits to Hutchings’ proposal.

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Face masks now optional for ACPS staffers, substitutes get a raise

By James Cullum

Published March 9, 2022 at 1:00PM

As of Monday (March 7), Alexandria City Public Schools staff are no longer required to wear face masks in schools.

Staff were informed of the rule change in an email on Friday (March 4) that wearing masks in ACPS facilities and vehicles is optional, with few exceptions. Additionally, all ACPS staff (not including substitutes) will get paid emergency leave if unable to work due to COVID-19.

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New report details arrests and safety incidents in ACPS

By James Cullum

Published March 7, 2022 at 3:30PM | Updated March 9, 2022 at 1:23PM

Alexandria City High School's Minnie Howard Campus at 3801 W. Braddock Road was evacuated on Friday, Dec. 10, after a bomb threat. Here, Alexandria Police and a Bomb Dog look for anything suspicious outside the school. (staff photo by James Cullum)

Eighteen Alexandria City Public School students were arrested in the first two quarters of this school year, in addition to 41 reported fights/assaults and 13 seized weapons. The weapons seized include a gun, five knives, a stun gun, two fake weapons, and pepper spray.

That’s according to a School Safety Data report to be presented to the School Board on Thursday. The report reveals 18 arrests within ACPS between August and December, 34 injuries, and also a sexual assault allegation at the Alexandria City High School-Minnie Howard campus in October.

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City Council asks Alexandria City Public Schools to not miss another quarterly deadline and deliver report on school safety

By James Cullum

Published March 3, 2022 at 2:15PM

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

After missing quarterly reporting deadlines on school safety, Alexandria City Public Schools says it will deliver a report this week.

In a joint City Council/School Board work session on Wednesday night, some Council members were not pleased that ACPS has not delivered quarterly performance reviews on the school resource officer program. At the meeting, ACPS staff announced that the Board will soon receive a report on school safety data and the proposed school law enforcement partnership (SLEP) advisory group. The report has not yet been made public, and should be posted today (March 3) or tomorrow as an agenda item for the upcoming meeting.