What will it take for ACPS to be safe & provide excellent education?

[Anonymous]

100% serious non trolling question.

[Anonymous]

Either disband or replace the central office starting with Hutchings. Sorry, I could not resist but Hutchings’ “leadership” would be the first issue to address.

[Anonymous]

Replace school board in next election

Replace Hutchings

Replace the bullshit Lucy Cawkins reading curriculum with something that actually teaches kids to read

[Anonymous]

A huge investment in actually fixing what’s wrong w buildings or replacing them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A huge investment in actually fixing what’s wrong w buildings or replacing them.

Nope. If that was the magic bullet, J-H would be the gold star of elementary schools.

[Anonymous]

Redo the curriculum. Build more schools or add more floors to existing schools so class size is smaller.

With the way things are, I'm going to have to pass.

[Anonymous]

Buildings are definitely one piece of the puzzle. The capacity issues and lack of planning to address them is staggering. GWMS is at almost 150% capacity based on enrollment figures. The failure to plan for a second high school when ACHS (formerly TC) is busting at the seams is highly irresponsible

Beyond that, I think the main problem I’ve seen this year is just an inability to plan ahead in a strategic, meaningful, or creative way. They regularly kick the cam down the road and allow things to get to a crisis breaking point. The complete abandonment of students with disabilities during COVID is beyond shameful. And they could have gotten k-2nd back in classrooms much sooner.

The school board seems to become paralyzed with indecision. We need leadership that will be more decisive and action oriented. Plus, better communication with parents and teacher/staff. And then of course is the desperate need for more funding and smart use of those funds. ACPS got a lot of CARES money but out all their eggs in the technology basket for virtual learning, with no investment in things that would safely reopen schools (eg. HEPA filters in classrooms).

It’s a tall order!

[Anonymous]

ACPS is too far gone but:

Replace the School Board.

Replace Hutchings.

Replace leadership at Central Office.

And found a parents group that represents concerns of parents and serves as a check on ACPS. That currently doesn't exist in Alexandria.

[Anonymous]

Like most big systems, more schools and smaller classes. But thats a lot of $.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buildings are definitely one piece of the puzzle. The capacity issues and lack of planning to address them is staggering. GWMS is at almost 150% capacity based on enrollment figures. The failure to plan for a second high school when ACHS (formerly TC) is busting at the seams is highly irresponsible

Beyond that, I think the main problem I’ve seen this year is just an inability to plan ahead in a strategic, meaningful, or creative way. They regularly kick the cam down the road and allow things to get to a crisis breaking point. The complete abandonment of students with disabilities during COVID is beyond shameful. And they could have gotten k-2nd back in classrooms much sooner.

The school board seems to become paralyzed with indecision. We need leadership that will be more decisive and action oriented. Plus, better communication with parents and teacher/staff. And then of course is the desperate need for more funding and smart use of those funds. ACPS got a lot of CARES money but out all their eggs in the technology basket for virtual learning, with no investment in things that would safely reopen schools (eg. HEPA filters in classrooms).

It’s a tall order!

I agree on all of this but the SB's inability to plan is nothing new. It's been this way for years. I know that people are paying attention/closer attention this year (which is great) but this has been a problem for a very long time.

Just a SB that provides oversight on Hutchings & central office would be huge. Every single member needs to go. A few may have spoken up this year but that is new and only on the recent reopening issue.

[Anonymous]

I think it will be telling based on the number of principals and teacher who leave this year compared to a normal year. We need to vote for school board members who are up for the job ahead of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like most big systems, more schools and smaller classes. But thats a lot of $.

This I don’t understand- my older kids are at a top private in the area and the per pupil spend is lower than what ACPS does. The private facilities and resources are amazing. I understand they get large donations but I have looked at all the numbers and the annual spend per student is a lot less. It makes no sense that the disparity is this huge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like most big systems, more schools and smaller classes. But thats a lot of $.

This I don’t understand- my older kids are at a top private in the area and the per pupil spend is lower than what ACPS does. The private facilities and resources are amazing. I understand they get large donations but I have looked at all the numbers and the annual spend per student is a lot less. It makes no sense that the disparity is this huge.

Central office is huge (same number of staff as the city has as of a few years ago) and yet when ACPS says they may need to cut pay, it's always teacher pay and not central office pay.

And don't forget that this year, Hutchings collected 12K in travel expenses on top of his $267K salary. It was for travel expenses.

[Anonymous]

It's not just the school board that needs to go.

The mayor, entire city council and the city manager need to all go too. For years, they've watched the schools crumble and only cared when it was politically advantageous (just like in the last month all of them discovered that schools are closed and now want them open).

[Anonymous]

They've taken the first steps to end TAG & they are dumbing down the regular curriculum again so maybe reverse those.