Hundreds of families have found relief after Alexandria City Public Schools reinstated school bus routes to neighborhoods across the city.
The new routes went into effect today (Oct. 5). ACPS approved 183 appeals and denied 138 appeals. In all, the school system found that 456 students are newly eligible for bus service, with routes returned in Arlandria, the West End and Old Town.
Alexandria City Public Schools started responding to families wanting school buses to return to their neighborhoods last week, and any eligible students will be able to ride on a bus starting by Monday, Oct. 5.
That was the message relayed to the Alexandria City School Board last Thursday night (Sept. 24) by Clinton Page, the school system’s chief accountability and research officer. Page said that ACPS started sending out their decisions on walk zone requests on Wednesday, Sept. 23 and will respond to all families by Wednesday, Sept. 30.
Alexandria City Public Schools staff are evaluating potential road hazards across the city this week as families await answers on how they can get school buses returned to their neighborhoods.
That was the message relayed at Monday night’s (Sept. 14) Joint City Council and School Board Subcommittee meeting. With a looming Sept. 30 deadline to respond to parent requests to reinstate bus service, city and ACPS staff laid out a process of evaluating public complaints.
Alexandria City Public Schools is asking the city for permission to use a temporary parking lot in Potomac Yard — once part of the former arena proposal — for school buses this summer.
ACPS filed a special use permit application with the city asking to temporarily use a 45,000-square-foot lot for three months at 3331 Exchange Avenue in the Potomac Yard neighborhood. The property was pitched in 2023 as a new $2 billion home for the Washington Wizards and Capitals before losing support in Alexandria and fizzling out with lawmakers in Richmond.
UPDATE (Sept. 24, 2025): Following this reporting, DASH has placed both registered sex offenders on administrative leave. The transit agency said it is now assessing “the rigor of our recruitment standards” and confirmed that one of the employees is a bus driver, contradicting its initial statement Tuesday that no drivers were on the registry. DASH places 2 registered sex offenders on leave following ALXnow reporting
Following a discussion on the Alexandria School Board’s safety concerns about the proposal to transport Alexandria City High School students on DASH buses, ALXnow investigated the transit agency’s background check policies and discovered that it does not “expressly prohibit” sex offenders from employment.
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.
All 320 students at Cora Kelly School for Math, Science and Technology stepped into spring in brand new shoes on Wednesday (March 26).
For the second time this month, Operation Warm visited an Alexandria school to outfit hundreds of students with new shoes.
At a City Council meeting last week, City Council member Abdel Elnoubi and Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley introduced a proposal that could change the way Alexandria City High School students get to school.
Elnoubi and Bagley, with the unanimous backing of the City Council, asked staff to explore the utilization of the DASH bus network to transport for high school students, eliminating the need for school buses at the high school level.
Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) said in an alert to parents that a bus driver has been “placed on leave” effectively immediately after being charged with a murder.
ACPS said the bus driver in question is Carlas William Carter. Carter, 37, was arrested along with Alexandria resident Mary Ashby, 26, for the fatal shooting of Tamara Jones, 26, in Oxon Hill.
Not long after warning families that the bus driver shortage will impact schools, Alexandria City Public Schools said it’s staggering student dismissal because of the driver shortage and schedule changes at the high school.
According to a letter from Alicia Hart, chief operating officer for Facilities and Operations at Alexandria City Public Schools, the school division will start having staggered student dismissal times for mid-day shuttle transportation at Alexandria City High School.
Alexandria City Public Schools said school bus routes may be changing and students may be arriving at school late due to a shortage of bus drivers.
In a letter out to parents, MeChale’ Johnson, director of pupil transportation and fleet management, said ACPS is struggling to fill vacancies in transportation services and it will have an impact on students at the start of the 2024-2025 school year next Monday.
