To the Editor:
The following letter is in response to Ann Liddle’s letter, “How Did This Get Approved?” in last week’s Gazette Packet.
On behalf of those families who live in and around Jefferson-Houston School we thank you for your apology. The new building is a “monstrosity,” school enrollment continues to decline, and rumor has it that Jefferson-Houston’s reading and math scores have fallen again.
Yet Board Chairman Karen Graf, Board member Stephanie Kapsis and others voted “to stay the course.”
City Council is Alexandria’s taxing authority and still council votes more taxpayer money for the school system to spend. Dare I say Jefferson Houston School, present and future, insults? Superintendent Crawley embraces PreK-8 hoping beyond hope grades 6-8 will stabilize the school’s continually declining population. This addresses student achievement how?
Civic association presidents past and present are weary, their well-articulated objections repeatedly ignored. ACPS personnel responsible for this debacle mostly have departed: Byess, Sherman, Finn, and Holmes. What has their departure, Dr. Crawley’s arrival changed?
Jefferson-Houston School has only 330 students enrolled. In September the new school will open at one-third capacity. Cynically I ask: when exactly does redistricting begin? IB and SFA curriculum end?
Charley Conway, Alexandria