{"id":118,"date":"2022-09-13T17:53:21","date_gmt":"2022-09-13T17:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2022-2023\/?p=118"},"modified":"2022-10-14T16:52:55","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T16:52:55","slug":"the-frustrations-of-a-community-alexandria-school-safety-community-listening-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2022-2023\/2022\/09\/13\/the-frustrations-of-a-community-alexandria-school-safety-community-listening-session\/","title":{"rendered":"The Frustrations of a Community: Alexandria School Safety Community Listening Session"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Yahney-Marie Sangare<\/p>Editor<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Alexandria City Councilmember Canek Aguirre and ACPS School Board member Abdel Elnoubi hosted a community listening session about school safety at Beatley Library on Sunday, September 10. The session was permeated with discussions surrounding the Student Law Enforcement Partnership (SLEP) initiative, media response, and community involvement in legislative processes. Elnoubi said that the decision on what to do with school resource officers (SROs) will be made in October or November, whether that be to leave, remove, or reimagine the role of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the city and schools. This decision will come with the recommendations of the SLEP committee.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The session was attended by around 20 parents, community members, and local leaders. Among attendees were former Vice Mayor Bill Cleveland and Virginia state senator Adam Ebbin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elnoubi opened the session with notifications on the recent activities of the School Board. He said that the hiring of the new interim superintendent, Dr. Melanie Kay-Wyatt, was \u201cvery involved\u201d and explained that the process to hire the permanent superintendent will have \u201ca lot of opportunity for outlook and feedback [from the community].\u201d He listed policy and work updates from the summer, bringing up the implementation of the student ID verification system, focus on the Talented and Gifted (TAG) program, early college programs, and continued attention to equity processes and student support teams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alluding to the removal of Lunch & Learn at ACHS and \u201cschedule changes\u201d, Elnoubi said, \u201cIt\u2019s an ongoing discussion; it\u2019s not final. There are going to be iterations and fine-tuning.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Elnoubi\u2019s brief, the conversation opened to attendees. The first subject brought up was a fight that occurred the day prior, which Elnoubi stated might be an impetus to evaluate the functionality of staggered dismissal. When asked about the role of SROs in de-escalating a recent incident, Elnoubi clarified that the police that handled the situation were not SROs. The connection to these events lead to conversations of how the SLEP committee was formed in the 2021-2022 school year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA parent like me who speaks another language is not included in the selection of the SLEP committee\u2026Because the application and the selection was not [intended] for us,\u201d said a parent at the session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aguirre said, \u201cI was very vocal about my discontent with the way SLEP was set up and the way the application process was done; unfortunately, I cannot do anything about that because it is a superintendent group. The School Board voted to make it a superintendent group rather than an advisory group.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elnoubi clarified that he voted against making SLEP a superintendent group. He said, \u201c[Some] School Board members got together and came up with a counterproposal\u2026to make a bigger group. If it was up to me, I would\u2019ve made [SLEP] much bigger.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mariym Ramos-Salinas, who also distributed a school safety survey alongside Carol James at the beginning of the session, echoed the issue surrounding the composition of the SLEP committee. \u201cIf you\u2019re going through the process and do not lay out the representation of your city in the board, then we have a structural problem. We have to have someone from the West-end, the immigrant community, [and] East-end. In this process, they don\u2019t take that under consideration? That\u2019s structural racism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cleveland pushed back against the immediate shift of responsibility surrounding the selection of the SLEP committee. He said, \u201cI spent my time doing what needed to be done. I took [the Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI) program] and to be dejected for something like that when we should be speaking up for a parent like that; I think that it\u2019s not right because you have neglected everything these people have put into it.\u201d Cleveland clarified his support for community solidarity, saying, \u201cWhen we work with the spirit and we work together, we can solve anything.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phyllis Lawrence, a member of the SLEP committee, stated that she had seen diversity in the meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crisis communication was also discussed, especially concerning transparency from ACPS about incidents that occur during school hours. Elnoubi said, \u201cWe need to make sure that our communication is clear. If there\u2019s something we can\u2019t say because there are privacy and security issues, we need to be clear about that.\u201d As a father of two who first got involved in community activism with his child\u2019s school, he empathized with the concerns. \u201cI\u2019m a parent myself. If there\u2019s something going on at my kid\u2019s school, I want to know everything\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elnoubi went on to clarify that the School Board information strategy is what can be changed legislatively but that public influence and pressure also plays a role. Concerning last Spring, he said, \u201cWe did receive an email [from the superintendent] saying don\u2019t talk to the media about [the stabbing]\u2026The problem is that some School Board members feel that if they speak they will be representing the schools\u2026 It\u2019s [constituents] job to make sure that\u2026 School Board members are held accountable.\u201d Aguirre added that the city will be \u201crevamping\u201d the communications structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A variety of other issues were brought up. A 2021 T.C. Williams graduate present at the session recommended having Bradlee Shopping Center stores deny service to students during school hours, which Aguirre supported, saying, \u201cI agree with you 100%. There hasn\u2019t been enough action; I should insert myself and enforce the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lack of extracurricular programs, specifically for secondary school students, was linked to inequitable crime rates, especially among disadvantaged populations. Bus transportation routes, especially concerning service to immigrant and minority communities, were also addressed, alongside teacher retention and weapons being brought into school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The session was dominated by high tensions and frustrations. Former School Board candidate Rico \u201cCoach Rico\u201d Rodriguez summarized the energy: \u201cI\u2019m tired of talking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some also addressed the importance of community solidarity and prevention over separation and punishment. Adrienne Fikes, director of the Parent Leadership Training Institute (PLTI), said, \u201cWe do not have the infrastructure in this community to be a community. We have the opportunity to change that\u2026The school spent $500,000 on surveillance instead of preventing the fights.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aguirre and Elnoubi both acknowledged community frustrations surrounding perceived lack of input and action. Aguirre validated the discouragement felt by many surrounding disempowerment, especially of disadvantaged communities. \u201cThat\u2019s the system doing what it is designed to do,\u201d he said. In spite of this, both continuously advocated for community involvement, discussion, and input to begin to revise those systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alexandria City Councilmember Canek Aguirre and ACPS School Board member Abdel Elnoubi hosted a community listening session about school safety at Beatley Library on Sunday, September 10. The session was permeated with discussions surrounding the Student Law Enforcement Partnership (SLEP) initiative, media response, and community involvement in legislative processes. Elnoubi said that the decision on what to do with school resource officers (SROs) will be made in October or November, whether that be to leave, remove, or reimagine the role of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the city and schools. This decision will come with the recommendations of the SLEP committee.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[32,21,33,34,22,25,30,20,29],"class_list":["post-118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-abel-elnoubi","tag-acps","tag-city-council","tag-meeting","tag-news","tag-policy","tag-safety","tag-school-board","tag-west-end"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2022-2023\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/IMG_7042-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2022-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2022-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2022-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2022-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2022-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2022-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":425,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2022-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118\/revisions\/425"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2022-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2022-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2022-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acpsk12.org\/theogony\/2022-2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}