Alexandria City Council and School Board members agreed Monday during a joint work session to update the city’s long-range school facilities plan as middle schools operate at more than 120% capacity and some elementary buildings approach 90 years old.
The decision to revise the decade-old planning document comes as officials confront both immediate overcrowding and long-term infrastructure decay that officials say redistricting alone cannot solve.
Alexandria City Council and School Board officials attempted to repair what they openly called a “dysfunctional” relationship on Monday night, with one councilman acknowledging that the tension had persisted for 12 years.
“We are five minutes into our meeting, five minutes into it, and already we’ve taken a tone of not being productive,” School Board Vice Chair Christopher Harris said. “Whether we like it or not, we have to communicate. We have to engage. We have to work together. This is dysfunction.”
The Alexandria City Public School Board will not support a proposal to use DASH buses to transport high school students, Chair Michelle Rief announced on Monday night, effectively ending months of work on a cost-saving initiative that exposed deep-seated tensions between the board and the City Council.
“After several months of thoughtful discussion and deliberation, the school board has determined that we cannot support moving forward with this proposal,” Rief said at the opening of the joint work session at ACPS Central Office. “While we appreciate the efforts to explore cost-saving strategies and alternative transportation options, we ultimately do not believe this approach is in the best interest of ACPS students, families, or staff.”
Good morning, Alexandria! Today is Monday, Sept. 29, the 272nd day of 2025. There are 93 days left in the year.
🌥️ Today’s weather: Increasing clouds, with a high near 79°F. Calm wind becoming northeast around 6 mph in the morning.
The story of how coach Herman Boone transformed a newly integrated team of Black and white high school athletes into champions is legendary in Alexandria.
On Friday, 40 of the remaining real-life heroes that the film Remember The Titans is based on, commemorated the movie’s 25th anniversary. The 2000 film recounts the story of the 13-0, 1971 state champion T.C. Williams High School football team (now Alexandria City High School). The players in the newly integrated school overcame racial adversity to become state champs.
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.
The Alexandria School Board will consider Thursday whether to accept a $9,999 donation from McLean-based Proxyware to support a male mentoring initiative at two city schools.
Alexandria City Public Schools received the $9,999 donation on Sept. 2 for programs at Patrick Henry K-8 School and Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 School. The board must approve any donations over $5,000.
The Alexandria City School Board will discuss a proposal on Thursday, Sept. 11, to transition Alexandria City High School students from school buses to the city’s DASH public transit system.
City Manager James F. Parajon recommends a phased approach starting in the 2026-27 school year, according to a June 20, 2025 memo to the City Council and School Board. The proposal comes after City Council members Abdel Elnoubi and Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley directed staff in January to study using Alexandria’s public transit system for high school transportation.
Good morning, Alexandria! 👋 Today is Tuesday, Aug. 19, the 231st day of 2025. There are 134 days left in the year.
🌧️ Today’s weather: A chance of showers, mainly after 4 p.m. Cloudy, with a high near 74. Northeast wind 7 to 9 mph. The chance of precipitation is 30%.
The Alexandria City Council and School Board have several big-picture items up for discussion early next month.
On Monday, August 4, the Joint City Council/School Board Subcommittee will discuss a proposal to put Alexandria City High School kids on DASH buses starting in fall 2026, collective bargaining with ACPS staff, and the school system’s Long-Range Educational Facilities Plan.
Veteran School Board Members Michelle Rief and Christopher Harris were unanimously chosen Thursday night (July 10) to lead the Alexandria School Board for the 2025-2026 school year.
The unanimous vote at the Board’s organizational meeting means a third one-year term for Rief as chair, and a first term in leadership for Harris. Rief and Harris thanked their colleagues for their support and said that the upcoming year will be challenging.
