School Board | ALXnow

Key endorsements heat up Jan. 9 Alexandria School Board special election

Published January 4, 2024 at 10:45AM | Updated January 4, 2024 at 11:54AM

Tim Beaty and Gina Baum, the candidates in the Alexandria School Board's Jan. 9 special election for the open District A seat (staff photos by James Cullum)

There’s less than a week to go until the Jan. 9 special election for Alexandria’s open District A School Board seat, and things are getting interesting.

With a focus on helping Alexandria City Public Schools craft a collective bargaining agreement with staff, retired labor leader Tim Beaty has secured key endorsements from the two other School Board Members in District A — Board Chair Michelle Rief and Jacinta Greene, as well as from City Council Members Canek Aguirre and Kirk McPike, Sheriff Sean Casey, NOVA Labor and the Education Association of Alexandria teachers union.

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The Alexandria City Council’s democratic primary field is getting crowded

By James Cullum

Published January 4, 2024 at 9:30AM | Updated January 4, 2024 at 3:01PM

(Clockwise from top left) Alexandria City Council candidates Charlotte Scherer, City Council Member John Taylor Chapman, City Council Member Sarah Bagley, School Board Member Abdel Elnoubi, Council Member Kirk McPike and James Lewis announce their candidacies to the Alexandria Democratic Committee on Jan. 2, 2024 (staff photo by James Cullum)

(Updated at 11:30 a.m.) The field of candidates is getting crowded in Alexandria’s Democratic primary for City Council.

The list of nine candidates includes four incumbents, two School Board Members, two community leaders and a former magistrate, who, if elected would be the first transgender City Council member.

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Alexandria podcast returns to tackle 2024’s big elections

By Vernon Miles

Published December 29, 2023 at 3:10PM

Liberally Social podcast (image via Democratic Social Club/Facebook)

A group of women Alexandria women are on a mission to ensure no candidate is just a name on a ballot in Alexandria.

The Liberally Social podcast, started back in 2021 to explore the 13 candidates running for City Council, has come together again to profile two candidates who could shape policy in Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS).

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Early voting underway for School Board special election next month

By Vernon Miles

Published December 27, 2023 at 11:00AM

Voting in Alexandria (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Early voting is underway for a School Board District A special election following School Board Member Willie Bailey’s abrupt resignation.

The election sees real estate agent and former Parks and Recreation commissioner Gina Baum square off against Tim Beaty, an Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) substitute teacher and former Global Strategies Director at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.

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Alexandria City Public Schools unveils two logo redesigns and gets skewered on social media

By James Cullum

Published December 11, 2023 at 10:55AM

The two options for the new ACPS logo (via ACPS)

Alexandria City Public Schools has unveiled two new logos, both of which are getting skewered by parents on social media.

ACPS is asking students, families and staff to weigh in on the two options for “consideration in the superintendent’s final recommendation” by Dec. 18. Last year’s effort to redesign the logo were denied 7-2 by the School Board.

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Alexandria School Board special election candidates focusing on teacher retention and board transparency

By James Cullum

Published December 7, 2023 at 3:30PM

The candidates for the Alexandria School Board special election for District A are Tim Beaty and Gina Baum (staff photo on left by James Cullum, courtesy photo on right)

A longtime city commissioner and a retired labor leader are facing off in the special election for Alexandria’s School Board District A seat, and both want to improve teacher retention and board transparency.

Candidates Gina Baum and Tim Beaty have vastly different backgrounds and strengths.

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Here’s who’s running in the Alexandria School Board’s special election (so far)

By James Cullum

Published December 5, 2023 at 3:30PM | Updated December 5, 2023 at 5:04PM

Voting at Alexandria City Hall (staff photo by James Cullum)

(Updated at 4:45 p.m.) By the time this story is published, candidates will have just an hour-and-a-half to file the necessary paperwork to run in the Jan. 9 special election to fill the vacant seat on the Alexandria School Board.

The deadline is 5 p.m. to file the following with the city’s Office of Voter Registration & Elections:

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Check out our photos of the Scottish Christmas Walk Parade in Old Town

By James Cullum

Published December 4, 2023 at 3:45PM | Updated December 4, 2023 at 9:36PM

Santa Claus waves at the Scottish Christmas Walk Parade in Old Town on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023 (staff photo by James Cullum)

(Updated 9:35 p.m.) It was overcast and cool — the perfect weather for the Campagna Center’s 52nd Scottish Christmas Walk Parade.

The parade is one of the most popular events in the city, bringing thousands of participants, including Irish dancers, historic reenactors and the City of Alexandria Pipes and Drums. It is considered the highlight of a weekend full of events.

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Alexandria School Board member Willie Bailey resigns

By Vernon Miles

Published November 15, 2023 at 9:15AM

City Council members (on left) and School Board candidate Willie Bailey (on right) at Friday Night Lights at ACHS on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. (Via Elijah Walter Griffin, Sr.)

Alexandria School Board member Willie Bailey has resigned, effective Nov. 30.

The announcement came a month after Bailey abruptly left a School Board meeting during a restructuring discussion.

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Afghan high school student Zahra Rahimi is making a name for herself in Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published November 7, 2023 at 3:30PM | Updated November 8, 2023 at 6:24PM

Zahra Rahimi (staff photo by James Cullum)

Zahra Rahimi spoke no English when she and her family moved from Afghanistan to Alexandria four years ago.

Fast forward to October, when First Lady Jill Biden recognized her at the White House as one of 15 “Girls Leading Change” around the country.

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School Board restructuring plan is ‘dead’ as-is, says Alexandria City Council Member

By James Cullum

Published October 25, 2023 at 3:30PM | Updated October 25, 2023 at 4:31PM

ACPS headquarters and clock (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The Alexandria School Board’s preferred options to restructure itself are “dead” as-is, mostly due to a lack of engagement with the Alexandria City Council, City Council Member John Taylor Chapman told members of the School Board on Monday night.

“I think you’re losing Council by not really engaging with them right now,” Chapman told the City Council/School Board Subcommittee meeting Monday night. “Given the response I’ve seen from my colleagues, I think you have even more of an uphill battle than you had before, and that’s not a good thing if this is supposed to be a process that’s collaborative.”