Alexandria School Board To Choose New Chair, Vice Chair

UPDATE: The staggered terms work session has been postponed.

ALEXANDRIA, VA — The next election of chair and vice chair of the Alexandria School Board will happen Thursday, and the next conversation about staggered terms is postponed until the new school year.

The last leadership election for the School Board happened on Jan. 5, but the School Board also amended a policy to move leadership elections to July. The change means the chair and vice chair will begin in new fiscal years, not the start of calendar years.

The current School Board Chair Meagan Alderton and Vice Chair Jacinta Greene were re-elected to their roles at the Jan. 5 meeting. At Thursday's meeting, a new chair will be selected and preside over the remainder of the meeting.

Terms of chair and vice chair run for one year.

A work session on proposed staggered terms was originally scheduled after the meeting, but now staggered terms will next be discussed in the new school year. Staggered terms, which means School Board members would be elected in different years, has been an idea been floated by the School Board since early 2023. The idea of staggered terms was suggested as the school district has grappled with turnover of School Board members and leadership in recent years.

Currently, the nine-member School Board is elected at the same time and have terms end at the same time. There are three members each from Districts A, B and C. The next School Board election will be November 2024, at the same time as the next mayoral and City Council elections.

A community survey on the topic from April 12 to 26 with 450 responses found 74 percent agree that staggering terms would improve continuity of operations for ACPS while 44 percent agree staggering terms would improve accountability.

The last discussion on staggered terms happened the previous Thursday. Officials from the City of Falls Church and Arlington County, where staggered terms are used for the School Boards, joined a panel discussion.

City Council must approve proposed charter revisions to alter the Alexandria School Board's terms, then state legislation must be approved, according to a School Board presentation on the topic.

Thursday's School Board meeting will happen at 6:30 p.m. Meetings are available live through Zoom or in person at the School Board Meeting Room, ACPS Central Office, 1340 Braddock Pl., Alexandria, VA. Meeting recordings are typically available at a later time.