Alexandria School Board and City Council In Disagreement Over School Safety

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would love to see them open campus and make space for kids to do something productive during lunch and afterschool. From what I can tell, they got rid of clubs and tutoring during lunch. The kids wandering afterschool may not join a team, but what about help finding a job? What about a place to hang out after school on campus that's not McDonalds where adults can supervise-- free food goes a long way. It's got to be in partnership with the city or other groups, but right now it's too many kids in one place with nothing to do.

Do you really think the kids who are beating old people in the McDonalds are suddenly going to turn if offered a job, free food or a hangout? This isn't an after school special from 1987. They are in gangs and they murder people.

[Anonymous]

Looks like the City Manager, Wilson, Chapman and city council don't want to fund "Chance to Change" where violent students can go and be taken out of the general population.

Since they can't deny the community's overwhelming desire for safety measures at the schools, this is their latest attempt to keep the chaos at ACPS going. I don't understand why they so clearly want the violence and want to keep it going.

[Anonymous]

So glad that Elnoubi and Bailey stood up for what the community and students want and said that ACPS needs to not put a price tag on safety or worry about the aesthetics of metal detectors.

Can't believe that Baird's major concern was how the equipment would look. Tell me you represent district B without telling me you represent district B.

[Anonymous]

https://www.alxnow.com/2023/03/14/alexandrias-city-council-and-school-board-clash-in-intense-budget-battle/

Alexandria City council does not put schools or students first. They control the budget and the land. Many school issues are not going to change until city council puts schools as a priority. I would like to be able to send my child to public school and not have to pay for private school or move. We have to think about who supports the children when voting for city council. Chapman for one, is the worst. He pushed for housing on school grounds, he vetos school safety measures and votes against everything the school board recommends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.alxnow.com/2023/03/14/alexandrias-city-council-and-school-board-clash-in-intense-budget-battle/

Alexandria City council does not put schools or students first. They control the budget and the land. Many school issues are not going to change until city council puts schools as a priority. I would like to be able to send my child to public school and not have to pay for private school or move. We have to think about who supports the children when voting for city council. Chapman for one, is the worst. He pushed for housing on school grounds, he vetos school safety measures and votes against everything the school board recommends.

Same for Wilson, he has Chapman carry his water for him on these issues when he doesn't want to rile up his "mommy mafia" on housing and security but still wants to get the job done. He can keep his UMC mommies happy by getting their remodeling permits ok-ed and pretending to be pro-SRO and anti housing.

City council will punish ACPS for the detectors and the SROs. They hold the purse strings.

[Anonymous]

How is Booze going to explain her vote to her bosses at AFT? They aren't exactly pro-metal detectors or SROs.

[Anonymous]

The problems with ACHS all stem from one problem: It's too big. 4,200 high school students is too many to effectively teach, let alone build a functioning school community around. Not enough space, teams, clubs, college counselors - nothing! The only way to make ACHS a significantly better place to learn is to open a new school.

[Anonymous]

I had no idea how deep into the equity grift ASB is. I think she purposefully hid this as she wanted to come across as another North Ridge mom wanting schools open. But with the reality that English Language Learners, and the financial and logistical demands they place on ACPS/ACHS, is a significant contribution to the system's precipitous decline into chaos I find it really alarming and frustrating that she is a signatory on this. https://www.elequity.org/#statement

ACPS has always had a priority and reality problem, but I have a serious question, who is going to pay for this all? The budget only supposes a 1% enrollment increase per year, yet certain schools, including the high school, have seen almost 7% this year, some ESes over 10%. ACPS chooses to "educate" english language leaners until age 22. So, yes, there are 22.5 year olds in your child's gym class. The Commonwealth does not fund these adult students, as it is optional for districts to enroll adults. VA law allows districts to charge tuition to adult students, yet ALX seems to think that people will just continue to pay 8-12% more a year in property taxes instead of doing this. The school is already physically exceptionally overcrowded.

My last question is can we at least tell the 20 year-old who is smoking weed/fentanyl at school and fighting to just never come back to school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had no idea how deep into the equity grift ASB is. I think she purposefully hid this as she wanted to come across as another North Ridge mom wanting schools open. But with the reality that English Language Learners, and the financial and logistical demands they place on ACPS/ACHS, is a significant contribution to the system's precipitous decline into chaos I find it really alarming and frustrating that she is a signatory on this. https://www.elequity.org/#statement

ACPS has always had a priority and reality problem, but I have a serious question, who is going to pay for this all? The budget only supposes a 1% enrollment increase per year, yet certain schools, including the high school, have seen almost 7% this year, some ESes over 10%. ACPS chooses to "educate" english language leaners until age 22. So, yes, there are 22.5 year olds in your child's gym class. The Commonwealth does not fund these adult students, as it is optional for districts to enroll adults. VA law allows districts to charge tuition to adult students, yet ALX seems to think that people will just continue to pay 8-12% more a year in property taxes instead of doing this. The school is already physically exceptionally overcrowded.

My last question is can we at least tell the 20 year-old who is smoking weed/fentanyl at school and fighting to just never come back to school?

I don't think Baird hid anything. She doesn't have to. On a previous thread, another poster said that her biggest supporters are private school parents in North Ridge so consider her audience. Private school parents in NR LOVE equity...just not enough to keep their kids in the failing George Mason where Baird been very vocal about sending her kids.

George Mason has been a leader in ACPS style equity for at least five years - teachers refuse to help kids because it isn't equitable. When hybrid learning was going on, teachers refused to allow the in person kids touch the books in the classrooms because it wasn't equitable to the online kids. This was supported by the previous principal and is supported by the current one. The school is hemorrhaging students to the private schools.

That statement she signed is word salad worthy of Baird's beloved Dr. Hutchings or Greg, as Baird affectionately calls him.

If she choses to run again, she will win. Although things could get sticky for her when the neighborhood finds out that GM is likely going to become, or at least add, a middle school in 2026 and she's been in meetings where it's been discussed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problems with ACHS all stem from one problem: It's too big. 4,200 high school students is too many to effectively teach, let alone build a functioning school community around. Not enough space, teams, clubs, college counselors - nothing! The only way to make ACHS a significantly better place to learn is to open a new school.

it's never, ever going to happen which is mind blowing.

[Anonymous]

People really need to stop wishing for a second high school. PP is right. It's never going to happen. It's not just the current council and school board. This goes back years. And with the mayor and council out to punish the school board for voting for SROs and metal detectors...they are going to try to claw back all the CIP money and I bet they take another pass at housing on school grounds. I think this school board will cave on it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People really need to stop wishing for a second high school. PP is right. It's never going to happen. It's not just the current council and school board. This goes back years. And with the mayor and council out to punish the school board for voting for SROs and metal detectors...they are going to try to claw back all the CIP money and I bet they take another pass at housing on school grounds. I think this school board will cave on it.

It's worse than CIP, the City is refusing to fund special education forcing ACPS to violate ADA and IDEA. So this is where the Council is. They are not good people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People really need to stop wishing for a second high school. PP is right. It's never going to happen. It's not just the current council and school board. This goes back years. And with the mayor and council out to punish the school board for voting for SROs and metal detectors...they are going to try to claw back all the CIP money and I bet they take another pass at housing on school grounds. I think this school board will cave on it.

It's worse than CIP, the City is refusing to fund special education forcing ACPS to violate ADA and IDEA. So this is where the Council is. They are not good people.

I agree but they are exactly what the voters of Alexandria want.

Looking forward to the posts about how wonderful ACPS is for special ed students from some PTAC toadie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problems with ACHS all stem from one problem: It's too big. 4,200 high school students is too many to effectively teach, let alone build a functioning school community around. Not enough space, teams, clubs, college counselors - nothing! The only way to make ACHS a significantly better place to learn is to open a new school.

I actually went to a 6000 person high school that had similar demographics to ACHS. My senior class had 1500 kids in it. The difference is that we were all kept on a very short leash. We had a campus with multiple buildings that we went between but caught outside between classes and punishment was dealt out. Of course we hated it and felt we were in a “prison” where no one trusted us. We had two credible bomb threats while I was there and the students who called them in were prosecuted.

It’s time to start following through with discipline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The problems with ACHS all stem from one problem: It's too big. 4,200 high school students is too many to effectively teach, let alone build a functioning school community around. Not enough space, teams, clubs, college counselors - nothing! The only way to make ACHS a significantly better place to learn is to open a new school.

I actually went to a 6000 person high school that had similar demographics to ACHS. My senior class had 1500 kids in it. The difference is that we were all kept on a very short leash. We had a campus with multiple buildings that we went between but caught outside between classes and punishment was dealt out. Of course we hated it and felt we were in a “prison” where no one trusted us. We had two credible bomb threats while I was there and the students who called them in were prosecuted.

It’s time to start following through with discipline.

There is no discipline. There is only restorative justice where the victims are forced to sit down with their attackers and be victimized further.