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PHOTOS: More than 900 Alexandria City High School seniors graduate at GMU’s EagleBank Arena

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It’s a day of happiness in Alexandria, as more than 900 Alexandria City High School seniors graduated this morning at George Mason University’s EagleBank Arena.

Perhaps student speaker Lenhle Vilakati put it best when she said: “Today we finally break apart and become our own people. Today we finally have to go off into bigger things and be amazing.”

Alexandria City High School is the largest public high school in Virginia.

Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt praised the 905 graduates, and said they are ready to take their next steps.

“This class of Titans is more than ready to do great things to the next chapter of their lives,” Kay-Wyatt said.

Outgoing Principal Peter Balas received a standing ovation, and tearfully thanked the audience of students, families, ACPS staff and city leaders.

“This is the most meaningful part of being a principal and your class will be one that I will always remember and hold close to my heart,” Balas said. “Today, you’re all experiencing a major life-changing event. Graduation brings to an end the last 13 years of schooling as you know it, that has been structured and supported by so many loved ones who helped you be successful. A change like this can be scary, but it is often through change that you become the best version of yourself.”

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It could be two years before ACPS comes to a collective bargaining agreement, says Superintendent

ACPS headquarters and clock (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

It might take some time, but Alexandria City Public Schools has opened the door to collective bargaining with its employees.

On Thursday, the School Board conducted its first work session on the topic, and Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt says it could be two years before the issue comes to the Board for a vote. The Board has to develop a collective bargaining resolution (CBR) with staff representatives, who will iron out wage and other potential increases through a long process.

“It depends on how fast we adopt our CBR,” Kay-Wyatt said. “It could be a year, it could be a year-and-a-half, but I think we have to also watch the budget timeline. It could be two years. We hope that’s not the case.”

It took Alexandria nearly two years to negotiate collective bargaining for police and firefighters, who both saw increases in pay budgeted into the city’s recently approved fiscal year 2024 budget. Alexandria was first Northern Virginia jurisdiction to pass the measures for employee rights and wages in 2021, after former Governor Ralph Northam announced statewide implementation of the law in 2020.

“I’m really glad that we are getting ourselves moving on this conversation,” Board Member Kelly Carmichael Booz said. “It is long overdue.”

ACPS approved funds to develop an official ACPS plan and policy for collective bargaining with employees in its recently approved budget.

“The first thing to do is identify who are the interested parties and stakeholders in this whole endeavor,” said Steve Ray, an attorney with Isler Dare, P.C. who is advising ACPS. “The CBR is going to need to address what are the rights and authorities of ACPS… the rights of the employees’ exclusive representative, the scope of the bargaining, and how to resolve impasses, resolutions, and procedures.”

Dawn Lucas, president of the Education Association of Alexandria, said that she’s been looking to start this work for a long time.

“We look forward to working collaboratively with ACPS as it establishes collective bargaining rights.,” Lucas said. “We want the opportunity to collectively bargain for working conditions, forced labor, and things of that nature.”

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ALXnow’s top stories this week in Alexandria

ACPS interim Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt at the deed signing ceremony for the Winkler Botanical Preserve, September 15, 2022. (staff photo by James Cullum)

It’s been a busy week in Alexandria.

City Council unanimously approved City Manager Jim Parajon’s $884.3 million fiscal year 2024 budget, funding citywide pay increases, a fully funded school system and collective bargaining agreements with the police and fire departments.

On Thursday night, the School Board announced that Interim Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt has been promoted to superintendent. Kay-Wyatt has led Alexandria’s 16,000 student-strong school system since the beginning of this school year after the resignation of Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. So far, she’s managed ACPS through post-pandemic educational issues, an increase in juvenile crime and the ACPS budget process. Her four-year contract ends on June 30, 2027, and her annual salary is $265,000.

Much of the week was punctuated by crime incidents, including a gunfire incidents in Landmark, an attempted carjacking on Duke Street and another shots fired incident near the Braddock Road Metro station.

  1. New tool maps out income and racial inequality across Alexandria
  2. Fairfax County man sentenced 10 years for 110-mph Duke Street crash that killed man
  3. Teen arrested for attempted carjacking on Duke Street
  4. Carjacking suspect arrested after midnight pursuit on King Street
  5. JUST IN: Police investigating shots fired incident near Braddock Road Metro station
  6. JUST IN: ACPS to announce new superintendent on Thursday
  7. Fundraiser established for family of the ACHS student who died this week
  8. Brothers want Tex-Mex restaurant ‘Dos Hermanos’ to open in Del Ray in June
  9. Mount Vernon Avenue closed near George Washington Middle School due to gas leak
  10. No arrest after shots fired in Landmark area Sunday morning
  11. Upcoming free tour explores the hidden history of Alexandria’s Parker-Gray neighborhood

Have a safe weekend!

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Notes: APD ‘determined’ to reduce crime near Braddock Road Metro after more shots fired

Good Friday morning, Alexandria!

🌥 Today’s weather: Cloudy. Mild. High of 69 and low of 51.
🌥 Tomorrow: Cloudy. Mild. High of 72 and low of 52. Sunrise at 6:05 am and sunset at 8:04 pm.

🚨 You need to know

More gunfire was reported near the Braddock Road Metro station yesterday afternoon, prompting the Alexandria Police Department to tweet that it’s “determined” to solve recent crime issues.

“APD has taken action by installing cameras and increasing police presence in the area to ensure everyone’s safety,” APD tweeted. “No one has been hurt, but we’re determined to prevent any potential harm by keeping a police presence there until we resolve this violence.”

Thursday’s incident occurred in the same block as a number of recent shootings. The city is experiencing a crime surge, and police are fighting it by increasing patrols in high-crime areas, installing mobile camera units and hosting community events.

📈 Thursday’s most read

The following are the most-read ALXnow articles for May 4, 2023.

  1. JUST IN: Police investigating shots fired incident near Braddock Road Metro station (1834 views)
  2. Fundraiser established for family of the ACHS student who died this week (1203 views)
  3. Notes: Alexandria driver killed in hit-and-run in D.C. | ALXnow (727 views)
  4. JUST IN: Melanie Kay-Wyatt announced as Alexandria City Public Schools superintendent (516 views)

🗞 Other local coverage

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on today and this weekend in Alexandria, from our event calendar.

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JUST IN: ACPS to announce new superintendent on Thursday

ACPS headquarters and clock (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The permanent superintendent of Alexandria City Public  Schools will be announced by the School Board on Thursday night, ACPS announced today.

While their identity has not been revealed, the successful candidate was chosen after a national search that started last November in consultation with Nebraska-based McPherson & Jacobson, L.L.C Executive Recruitment and Development, according to ACPS.

The announcement will be made at 6:30 p.m.

Alexandria’s 16,000 student-strong school system has been led by interim Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt since the beginning of this school year. Kay-Wyatt took over after the resignation of Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr., and she managed ACPS through post-pandemic educational issues, an increase in juvenile crime and the ACPS budget process.

Alexandria has seen more than a handful of superintendents over the last 15 years. Prior to Hutchings, Lois Berlin was the interim superintendent for a year. Berlin took the helm after the retirement of Superintendent Alvin Crawley, who had the job from 2013 to 2017. Crawley took over after Superintendent Morton Sherman, who led ACPS for five years after the departure of Superintendent Rebecca Perry in 2008.

“The Board wants the successful candidate to assume the responsibilities of the position on or before July 1, 2023,” according to the job posting by McPherson & Jacobson.

The closing date to apply for the position was in February and the School Board conducted interviews in March.

The qualifications for the position, according to the job posting, are below:

The candidate must have the background, skills, and abilities essential for excellence in educational leadership to include high expectations, being data driven and maintaining a culture of accountability throughout the division.

Experience as a superintendent or in a central office leadership position in a diverse, suburban/urban district to include classroom teaching experience is required.

Doctorate and Virginia Superintendent certification – or eligibility for it – are required as is a preference for living in the city of Alexandria.

The Board is seeking a candidate with the following desired characteristics:

  1. An educational leader with a proven track record of leading teams to implement equitable practices that result in improved academic achievement in a suburban/urban school division.
  2. A leader with experience in the successful development and implementation of a division-wide strategic plan with the understanding that the current plan must continue to be implemented with fidelity through 2025.
  3. A leader who builds consensus through collaboration resulting in trust and mutual respect throughout the division and the broader community.
  4. A steward of public resources with expertise in budget development, the ability to foster positive relationships with the city government officials and experience in carrying out capital projects.
  5. An effective communicator whose vision can be translated into practical terms for all stakeholders in the division and the broader community.
  6. A leader with the ability to identify staff’s potential and build capacity throughout the organization.
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PHOTOS: The 2023 George Washington Birthday Parade in Old Town

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Old Town was packed on Monday, as thousands of revelers and marchers celebrated the George Washington Birthday Parade.

More than 2,000 freemasons from all over the country marched in the 100th annual parade, which is the largest annual celebration of Washington in the world.

This year’s event saw a rare route change for the parade, which is traditionally held east of Washington Street near City Hall in the Old Town Historic District. This year, the parade made its way from Old Town North to King Street and near the George Washington Masonic National Memorial at King Street and Commonwealth Avenue.

This event commemorated the construction of the Memorial in 1923, which saw then-President Calvin Coolidge, Chief Justice William Howard Taft and Virginia Governor E. L.Trinkle lay the cornerstone.

Alexandria’s next parade is the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Old Town on Saturday, March 4.

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Alexandria teachers applaud raises, additional budget changes

ACPS teachers advocating at the January 19, 2023, School Board meeting (Courtesy photo)

Alexandria City High School teachers are applauding increased wages and other recent changes to the Alexandria City Public Schools’ proposed fiscal year 2024 budget.

The School Board approved the proposed $359.9 million fiscal year 2024 combined funds budget proposal on Thursday night. The budget is a 4% increase over last year’s approved budget and includes funding to develop an official ACPS plan and policy for collective bargaining with employees.

Last month, 15 ACPS teachers appeared before the School Board at its public hearing for Interim Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt’s budget. Since then, the proposed 2.6% step increase for eligible ACPS employees has been increased to 3% and a full step has been eliminated from the pay scale.

The Alexandria City High School budget now includes four new core teachers, a school psychologist, a truancy specialist, a systemwide college and career counselor.

“We are deeply grateful to ACPS for making these needed investments in our schools, staff, and students,” said Jay Falk a teacher at Minnie Howard who organized teachers to the school board meeting. “While there is always more work to do, this historic investment in needed mental health and instructional positions will help address pay and staffing concerns. Thank you to the ACPS leadership and school board members who worked hard to make these investments possible.”

The budget now goes to City Council before being approved as part of the city budget in early May.

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ACPS interim Superintendent aims to ‘reset, restart, and refocus’ school system with budget proposal

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Alexandria City Public Schools Interim Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt says her budget will help address some of the long-term effects of the pandemic.

Kay-Wyatt’s theme for the budget is to “reset, restart and refocus” the school system, and she says employee retention is crucial.

“We hope the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is in our rearview mirror,” Kay-Wyatt told the School Board. “But the challenges that it has left behind clearly need to be addressed.”

On Thursday, Kay-Wyatt presented her $359.9 million fiscal year 2024 combined funds budget proposal, and 85% of it is geared toward paying the salaries of more than 2,600 ACPS employees. Kay-Wyatt is proposing a 2.6% step increase and 2.5% market rate adjustment for eligible ACPS employees, as well as increased funding for Social and Emotional Learning programming (SEAL) for every student to regroup students coping with learning loss and other pandemic-related issues.

“We do know some of our challenges, of course, have been staff burnout,” Kay-Wyatt said. “We hear that from our staff, we hear that from our organization, and we are definitely focused on that as well.”

Kay-Wyatt continued, “That is a big challenge that we will continue to shine a spotlight on. The national teacher and bus driver shortage and the highly competitive salaries that are offered in the D.C. Metro Area have to be addressed so that we can provide our students with a quality education. We must also work to address the many forms of trauma that our students face.”

The budget is a 4% increase over last year’s approved budget, and includes funding to develop an official ACPS plan and policy for collective bargaining with employees.

Systemwide, ACPS enrollment is projected to increase modestly from 15,732 students at the end of the current school year to 15,847 students at the beginning of the next school year in August 2023. Enrollment peaked at more than 16,000 students at the tail-end of the 2020-2021 school year — during the height of the pandemic — resulting in ACPS losing 474 students (3%).

ACPS will conduct a public hearing on the proposed budget on Jan. 19. The School Board is expected to pass it (with revisions) on Feb. 16, and then go to City Council for deliberation until it passes the city’s budget in early May.

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ACPS considers making school resource officers into teachers and informal counselors

About 58% of Alexandria City Public Schools students feel safe in school, with bullying, gang activity and selling/using drugs topping a new list of concerns.

Consequently, ACPS is considering enhancing the role of its school resource officers to not only serve as law enforcement but as teachers and informal counselors.

Interim Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt will use the report by Hanover Research and recommendations from an advisory group to present a plan next month. The plan will focus on a reimagined partnership with the ACPS and the Alexandria Police Department’s school resource officer program.

The new arrangement has been months in the making — including 18 discussion group meetings — and will go into effect at the end of this school year in June.

Hanover is recommending the “triad” concept; a method of policing backed by the National Association of School Resource Officers where SROs serve as law enforcers, teachers, and informal counselors.

“In effective SRO programs, SROs fulfill educational and counseling functions in addition to providing law enforcement services,” Hanover said. “Discussion group participants suggest that intimidation and opposition to SROs can be overcome through community-building activities such as classroom visits or athletic events.”

SROs have been a contentious issue in Alexandria. The officers were defunded by the City Council in last year’s budget, and ACPS spent the first few months of the 2021-2022 school year without them. They were returned after ACPS pleaded to Council for their return after multiple incidents with weapons in schools.

“I feel safe from outside threats,” a Black student at Alexandria City High School’s Minnie Howard campus said in a report. “But within our hallways, we have a lot of fights that break out randomly throughout the day, and I just don’t want to be caught up in that.”

There were 46 students arrested and 68 injured in the 2021-2022 school year, with 194 incidents that provoked a police response, according to an ACPS safety report.

The school system is using the 2021-2022 school year as a baseline for future improvement.

This school year began with new safety protocols, like a new identification requirement for students and staff at Alexandria City High School, staggered dismissal times, and designated entrances for students and staff at schools.

Hanover’s student safety survey of 5,200 students, staff, parents and community members found that just 35% of community members feel that the school system provides a safe environment, versus 75% of parents and 72% of ACPS staff.

“Students also identify drug use as a major concern and express substantial discomfort with drug sales and use in bathrooms,” the report said. “Staff express concern about a perceived lack of follow-up actions to address student violence.”

Between October and November, Hanover Research conducted 18 focus groups with 142 participants, in addition to garnering feedback from more than 5,200 people in the survey.

“Most non-staff members don’t even know how to contact the SROs at the schools,” Marriam Ewaida of Hanover Research told the Board. “The ones that have interacted with the SROs actually have largely positive perceptions with their interactions, but some of them…  describe the SROs as being sometimes intimidating or distance in their limited interactions. Most respondents did not see the SRO as an informal mentor or educator.”

The survey also found that:

  • ACPS has problems with violence or theft — 47% of students agree, 63% from the community, 38% from ACPS staff, and 37% of parents
  • ACPS has a cyberbullying/bullying problem — 39% of students agree, 73% from the community, 46% of staff, and 34% of parents
  • ACPS has a gang presence problem — 32% of students agree, 57% from the community, 31% from ACPS staff, and 31% of parents
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Alexandria City Public Schools asks for help in selecting next superintendent

ACPS interim Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt speaks at an event for Noah and Josephus Lyles at Market Square, October 10, 2022. (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City Public Schools is looking for community input on its national search for a new superintendent. The school system wants to hire the superintendent by the end of March and for them to start work on July 1, 2023.

The online feedback form is s intended for families and staff, and is available in English, Spanish, Amharic, Arabic and Dari until Dec. 21.

“We are excited about our search for a permanent superintendent for ACPS and want to encourage all internal and external stakeholders to please share their input to help inform this search,” said Board Chair Meagan L. Alderton. “It is important for the School Board to hear from community members as we consider the needs of our school division and the characteristics of the next superintendent to lead ACPS in the future.”

ACPS hired Interim Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt after the resignation of Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. in June. Kay-Wyatt has not indicated whether she will apply for the permanent position.

Recruiting firm McPherson & Jacobson is identifying and screening candidates.

The superintendent’s job description is below.

The candidate must have the background, skills, and abilities essential for excellence in educational leadership to include high expectations, being data driven and maintaining a culture of accountability throughout the division. Experience as a superintendent or in a central office leadership position in a diverse, suburban/urban district to include classroom teaching experience is required.  Doctorate and Virginia Superintendent certification – or eligibility for it – are required as is a preference for living in the city of Alexandria.  The Board is seeking a candidate with the following desired characteristics:

  1. An educational leader with a proven track record of leading teams to implement equitable practices that result in improved academic achievement in a suburban/urban school division.
  2. A leader with experience in the successful development and implementation of a division-wide strategic plan with the understanding that the current plan must continue to be implemented with fidelity through 2025.
  3. A leader who builds consensus through collaboration resulting in trust and mutual respect throughout the division and the broader community.
  4. A steward of public resources with expertise in budget development, the ability to foster positive relationships with the city government officials and experience in carrying out capital projects.
  5. An effective communicator whose vision can be translated into practical terms for all stakeholders in the division and the broader community.
  6. A leader with the ability to identify staff’s potential and build capacity throughout the organization.
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