Welcome To Save Jefferson-Houston
Fighting for Equity, Transparency, and Justice in Alexandria Schools
What Happened?
On December 19, 2024, the Alexandria City School Board voted to eliminate the elementary program at Jefferson-Houston (JH), the city’s only majority-Black elementary school. This decision uproots hundreds of students, disproportionately affecting Black, special needs, and low-income families. Jefferson-Houston serves as a walkable, neighborhood school in the historic Parker Gray community, providing critical Title 1 services like food pantries, tutoring, and Saturday school.
Why This Matters
This is not about a single school. This is about how our leaders make decisions, how they think about our students, how our tax dollars are used effectively, and how the community is engaged deliberately and transparently.
- Equity: Jefferson-Houston serves the highest population of Black and low-income students in Alexandria. Closing the elementary program disproportionately impacts these families, undermining the city’s commitment to racial and economic justice.
- Transparency: The decision was made without meaningful community input or clear communication. Families were assured at the last PreK-8 meeting the district held in November that no decisions had been made, to only to learn about the closure in the School Board vote.
- Justice: Forcing vulnerable students out of their neighborhood school and busing them across the city evokes segregation-era policies and breaks promises to prioritize neighborhood-centered education.
What Happened
On December 19, 2024, the Alexandria City School Board voted to eliminate the elementary program at Jefferson-Houston (JH), the city’s only majority-Black elementary school. This decision uproots hundreds of students, disproportionately affecting Black, special needs, and low-income families. Jefferson-Houston serves as a walkable, neighborhood school in the historic Parker Gray community, providing critical Title 1 services like food pantries, tutoring, and Saturday school.
What You Can Do
Your voice matters. Here’s how you can help fight for Jefferson-Houston and hold ACPS accountable:
1. Contact Your Leaders: Write to the School Board, Mayor, and City Council to demand transparency and a reversal of this decision.
COPY AND PASTE ALL ADDRESSES BELOW: Alyia.gaskins@alexandriava.gov, Sarah.bagley@alexandriava.gov, John.Taylor.chapman@alexandriava.gov, Kirk.mcpike@alexandriava.gov, Canek.Aguirre@alexandriava.gov, Jacinta.Greene@alexandriava.gov, Abdel.Elnoubi@alexandriava.gov, jim.parajon@alexandriava.gov, melanie.kay-wyatt@acps.k12.va.us, pierrette.finney@acps.k12.va.us, alicia.hart@acps.k12.va.us, michelle.rief@acps.k12.va.us, kelly.carmichael.booz@acps.k12.va.us, christopher.harris@acps.k12.va.us, timothy.beaty@acps.k12.va.us, ashley.simpson.baird@acps.k12.va.us, ryan.reyna@acps.k12.va.us, donna.kenley@acps.k12.va.us, Alexander.Scioscia@acps.k12.va.us, Abdulahi.Abdalla@acps.k12.va.us
- MAYOR & CITY COUNCIL:
- CENTRAL OFFICE
- pierrette.finney@acps.k12.va.us
- melanie.kay-wyatt@acps.k12.va.us
- alicia.hart@acps.k12.va.us
- CITY MANAGER
2. Spread the Word: Share this website, the Alexandria Times story, and your concerns with friends, neighbors, and community organizations.
3. Attend Public Meetings: Show up and speak out at School Board and City Council meetings to advocate for a better solution.
It’s Nonsense to Eliminate 515 Elementary School Seats in This Growing Area
With 515 Elementary Seats Eliminated at Jefferson-Houston, high growth areas and multiple affordable housing neighborhoods will no longer have a walkable Elementary School. Existing students at Brooks and Lyles will be displaced through redistricting to accommodate geographically closer displaced JH students.
Recent News
Jefferson-Houston community rails against middle school conversion plans at School Board meeting
At a School Board meeting tonight (Thursday), parents and other community members from Jefferson-Houston voiced strong opposition to plans to convert Jefferson-Houston and Patrick Henry, both K-8 schools, into a middle school and elementary school respectively.
Alexandria parents fight plan to close majority-Black elementary school
- Parents in Alexandria are fighting back against a plan to close a majority-Black elementary school.
- The Alexandria City Public Schools board says Jefferson Houston Elementary would be converted to a middle school to address major overcrowding at two of the city’s middle schools.
- Parents argue that will not only not fix the capacity issues at hand right now and will hurt families in the community.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Dozens of parents in Alexandria are fighting back after learning that the city school board plans on closing a beloved elementary school that has a majority Black student population.
Parents want Alexandria schools to rethink plan to split pre-K-8 campus
Parents at an Alexandria school serving prekindergarten through eighth grade want the district to reverse a decision to remove elementary grades from the campus, with one family alleging in a legal complaint that officials did not follow proper procedures before the vote.
Jefferson-Houston parent files legal complaint against School Board over closure vote
Michael O’Brien, a parent who currently has two children attending Jefferson-Houston, initiated a legal challenge to the Alexandria School Board’s decision to convert the K-8 school into a middle school.
The School Board voted to convert Jefferson-Houston into a middle school in December. In the same meeting, the Board voted to turn Patrick Henry, also an K-8 school, into an elementary school.
Alexandria Planning Commission adds to criticism of School Board’s controversial PreK-8 conversion decision
Alexandria’s Planning Commission threw its voice behind criticisms that Alexandria City Public Schools dropped the ball on the recent K-8 and PreK-8 school conversions controversy.
The Planning Commission voted unanimously last week in support of a letter concerning the George Mason Elementary School Modernization project and the Pre-K-8 School Capacity Planning Project, both of which faced scrutiny for lapses in public engagement.
Alexandria parents push back against plans to convert elementary school
Alexandria parents are pushing back against plans to convert a majority-Black Elementary School.
The Alexandria City School Board said it plans to convert Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 IB School into a middle school. Parents said the decision would uproot hundreds of students.
“Oh, I’d be upset,” said parent and tutor Hannah Williams. “Your kid gets involved. They love their teachers and their community. They love their neighborhood and they’re having to move and change that. It’s upsetting.”
Alexandria community rallies against school board’s plan to change Jefferson-Houston
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (7News) — A lawsuit has been filed to stop Alexandria’s Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 International Baccalaureate School from transitioning to a middle school.
Several parents said the decision blind-sided them, and many of them have spoken against the move in Alexandria City Public Schools board meetings.
Alexandria budget pushes back against controversial Jefferson-Houston conversion
Alexandria City Manager James Parajon presented the FY 2026 budget to City Council tonight (Tuesday) but one of the major items was something not included in the budget: the conversion of Jefferson-Houston K-8 School to a middle school.
The communities at PH and JH – in a survey – voted to maintain K-8 with improvements. Despite these findings, the School Board, without communicating to families, chose the worst option for students and families, raising serious questions about the integrity of their process.
Recent Media
This decision was made without transparent communication, meaningful community engagement, or data to justify the harm it causes.
Quotes
Dr. Finney admits at the December 2024 School Board Meeting they did not engage with the Jefferson-Houston community regarding the final recommendation to the School Board to eliminate Jefferson Houston as an elementary school. The School Board passed the resolution anyway, even with the admission there had been no community engagement on the final proposal.
Dr. Hart admits that ACPS has no current plans nor strategy to address the problem of over-crowding in our middle schools.
Public Comment
Why This Plan is Wrong for Alexandria
- Closes the walkable elementary school with the highest population of African-American, low-income and special needs families (among K-8 schools).
- Costs $38M and does little for overall school capacity
- Has not been evaluated for impacts to our neighborhoods, staff, Title 1 funding, other schools, long term growth, transportation, walkability, etc
- Was passed abruptly without community review of the recommended model
- Eliminates elementary capacity needed in the 2035-2045 timeframe
- Does nothing to relieve current middle school overcrowding
What Are The Key Issues
- Issue 1: Disproportionate Impact to Black, Low Income Students
- Issue 2: $40M Investment Results in 115 Fewer Seats ($347k Cost Per Seat Lost)
- Issue 3: Fails To Address Growth Projections (20% increase in K-8 kids by 2050)
- Issue 4: No Study of Impact To Neighborhoods of Eliminating Walkable School (Parker-Gray, Braddock, Eisenhower East, North Old Town)
- Issue 5: Doesn’t Increase Middle School Capacity for 8 More Years. Spends $200M adding 600 elementary seats at George Mason / Cora Kelly, then spends $40M to remove a net 369 elementary seats at JH/PH
- Issue 6: Inadequate Data and Lack of Adequate Study For Responsible Decision
- Issue 7: Misleading and Flawed Process With Admission of Poor Engagement