Increasing violent student fights at Alexandria City High School’s King Street campus this week convinced officials to move to online instruction just days before Christmas break.
Melanie Kay-Wyatt, superintendent for Alexandria City Public Schools in Virginia, explained the situation in a notice to parents on Wednesday.
“Out of an abundance of caution and to prevent further instructional disruptions, there will be no in-person instruction at any ACHS campus on December 19 and December 20, 2024, and all students will participate in asynchronous instruction, which means all students will receive assignments and instructional materials online,” Kay-Wyatt wrote.
The notice followed multiple “student conflicts” that resulted injuries to students and staff that were recorded in a video broadcast by WRC-TV.
“At approximately noon, on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, two Alexandria Police Department School Resource Officers on the campus of Alexandria City High School, responded to reports of multiple physical altercations occurring in school hallways and the cafeteria. As a result, two students were criminally charged with assault and battery,” Alexandria Police wrote in a statement cited by ALXnow.
“APD is aware of one injured student who left with their parents to receive treatment at a clinic. Investigators are continuing to verify the validity of a media report of a student being stabbed, nothing at this point in the investigation substantiates that claim,” the statement read.
“Separately, an adult woman who is seen in a video circulating on social media lying on the ground reported falling and remained on the floor conscious. She refused medical attention on the scene and declined to file a police report. There were no injured parties transported for medical attention.”
The melee forced officials to put the school building on “hold status” for most of Wednesday afternoon, and they decided to move online for Thursday and Friday when the preliminary investigation revealed more conflicts were looming.
“Although these incidents involved a small number of students, such events are extremely disruptive to the educational environment and interrupt the focus on learning that our students deserve,” Kay-Wyatt wrote.
Students worked online Thursday and Friday with attendance recorded, as administrators worked to “devise a plan for additional measures that will be implemented when teachers and staff return on January 6, 2025” that will “include severe consequences for any disruptive behavior,” according to the superintendent.
“Schools should be safe learning environments for our kids; inciting violence and disorder within a school is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” Alexandria Police Chief Tarrick McGuire told WTOP. “As a community, we must support our kids by equipping them with the tools and constructive coping mechanisms to process emotions and our school resource officers are key in that process.”
The news site notes violence has been an increasing problem at the high school throughout the year, with an October fight resulting in a 15-year-old with a busted jaw. Last year, a total of 69 ACPS students were referred to court for alleged criminal activity, ALXnow reports.
“I think any time our schools are closed and they’re not able to do their core mission, which is educating kids, that’s a failure,” Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson told WTTG. “That’s a failure on all of our parts. That’s a failure on every organization in the city that supports our youth, and so we have to look inside and figure out what went wrong here and why we have students who are resorting to violence to solve their problems instead of constructive ways.”
Nixon Perez Orozco, student representative on the school board, offered a similar take.
“You guys have to do something security-wise inside of the school,” he told the school board. “I’m pretty sure that I’m sharing a lot of students’ experience.”
ACPS would not answer questions from ALXnow on details about this week’s fights, such as whether weapons were involved, the number of students, or the extent of injuries.
“Alexandria City Public Schools doesn’t comment on student and staff matters,” spokeswoman Jasmine Washington-Price told the news site. “The investigation is ongoing and ACPS can’t share any additional details at this time.”
