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.
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.
The Alexandria School Board has overturned ordinance requiring face masks for students in Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS), yielding to newly passed state requirements.
The vote was, in some ways, an empty gesture. The bill signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin requires that public schools treat masks as optional for students, with no punishment for students who either choose to wear a mask or choose not to.
The George Washington Birthday Parade returned to Alexandria on Monday after a two year hiatus. The streets of Old Town were lined with celebration for Washington’s 290th birthday.
Alexandria’s health care workers and first responders marched as parade grand marshals. The parade, which started at Gibbon and Fairfax Streets and snaked around City Hall, was attended by thousands. The event is the largest of its kind in the world honoring the founding father and first president.
Just hours before a Joint City Council/School Board Subcommittee meeting, new Alexandria City Manager Jim Parajon spoke with Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr.
Parajon, who started work earlier this month, said it was a great conversation and that he looked forward to working collaboratively with Hutchings, who wants a 2.6% salary step increase and a 2.5% market rate adjustment for all eligible ACPS employees in the upcoming fiscal year 2023 budget.
Alexandria City Public Schools is sticking with its proposed 10.25% salary increase for all employees, and Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. says that number will not change based on potential guidance from Governor Glenn Youngkin.
“Regardless of what the governor says or does, we have positioned ourselves to continue to increase compensation for our staff,” School Board Chair Meagan Alderton said at a budget retreat last week. “This is the type of proactive intentional work that will, I think, makes us successful to be able to sustain what it is we’re trying to do right now.”
(Updated at noon, Jan. 12) In the midst of declining enrollment, Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. wants to give all ACPS employees a raise.
That’s the gist of Hutchings’ $346 million fiscal year 2022 Combined Funds Budget, which he presented to the School Board last Thursday night (Jan. 6). The proposal is a nearly 4% increase over last year’s budget, and asks for approximately $248.7 million from the city. The City Council ultimately provides ACPS with 80% of its operating fund.
Alexandria School Board members say they want to keep in-person instruction going, but amidst a surge in Covid cases the Alexandria City Public Schools system now has an official plan to revert to virtual learning on a school-by-school basis.
“There may be cases in the future where we have to transition into a virtual learning setting due to that and we want to just prepare for that,” Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr., told the Board Thursday night.
With the pandemic and snow prompting a completely virtual ceremony, the new Alexandria School Board was sworn into office on Tuesday (Jan. 4).
Board Chair Meagan Alderton was also unanimously reelected by her colleagues to serve as leader for another year, and Member Jacinta Greene was named vice chair.
Due to Monday’s snowstorm and rising COVID infections, the induction ceremony for new members of the Alexandria City Council has shifted to a virtual-only format. The School Board’s induction ceremony has been moved to a larger building for distancing.
Mayor Justin Wilson, who is stuck in Spain after contracting COVID, will be sworn in with City Council at 6 p.m. on Zoom. Councilman-elect Kirk McPike also recently tested positive for COVID and is isolating at home.
Days after both school resource officers at Alexandria City High School were put on administrative leave, the Alexandria Police Department and Alexandria City Public Schools system are still unclear as to if or when those officers will be replaced.
The officers were placed on leave last Thursday after a “serious complaint” from a former student alleging “sexually inappropriate conversations” while she attended ACHS, according to the Washington Post.
