City Council Warms to Most of School Board Requests

Alexandria’s City Council appeared to warm up to the School Board’s request for about $109 million over the next four years, but sought more information about the school system’s request for additional funds that would provide healthy snacks and an expanded preschool program.

“If we don’t plan property, we will find ourselves failing to provide for our most needed populations,” said Board Chairman Yvonne Folkerts at a joint work session Wednesday night held at George Washington Middle School.

About 52 percent of the school system’s student population uses the reduced-cost lunch program and its students come from 128 different countries. Additionally, the population for speakers of English as a second language is rapidly growing.

Board member Mimi Carter pressed for more preschools, saying data show that students can perform better as they mature through the school system if they attend a pre-K program.

The School Board is asking for $752,376 to double the amount of city preschool programs to eight.

Mayor Bill Euille said prior to current School Superintendent Morton Sherman “there was a ‘hell no’ to preschool” plans in the city, but agreed that the attitude has changed. The current School Board is interested in expanding the program.

Board Vice Chairman Sheryl Gorsuch said, “We’re going to keep spending remediation money until we spend the pre-K money.”

Sherman said he put the preschool funding request outside of the main budget because the mandate for the school board is to address the needs of K-12.

The healthy snack initiative would cost $580,655 and expand a pilot program that has been tested at Jefferson-Houston School.

Several city council members pointed out that the board’s request for an additional $1.3 million puts them in a difficult position financially.

Folkerts said, “We’re fully aware of what we’re asking and the challenges it presents to council.”

There was additional discussion of whether to build new schools at both Jefferson Houston on the east end of the city and at Patrick Henry on the west end. Additionally, most of the school board and city council members seemed copacetic with the building of modular classrooms, which many pointed out are a far cry from older, more antiquated off-site school buildouts like trailers.

Correction: The supplemental funding request is $1.3 million, not $3.1 million as originally reported.