Last week, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin ordered that flags statewide be flown at half-staff in remembrance of those who had lost their lives in the continuing war in Israel.
But some residents noticed that while flags were half-staff outside of City of Alexandria properties, such as City Hall (which also flew an Israeli flag), flags outside Alexandria City Public Schools remained at full staff all week.
Residents noticed and inquired whether this was simply a mistake or a policy decision.
The governor's decisions about flag status is disseminated via email to public officials as well as posted on the state's website.
However, ACPS officials explained that message sent to ACPS did not make it to the right people.
In an email to Alexandria Living, Chief Operating Officer Dr. Alicia Hart wrote, "Thank you for bringing this to our attention. In response to your inquiry, we discovered that the governor’s message about the flag order was not received by the Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) staff that are responsible for managing these orders. When flag orders are received by ACPS, we always work with building staff to ensure timely compliance. This will continue to be our practice going forward. We have since worked to ensure that these messages are consistently received by our team."
Flags are currently at full staff.
To learn more about how to help those affected by the war, click here.
