The Alexandria City Public Schools Board voted unanimously to exclude the consideration of affordable housing at the Minnie Howard Campus of Alexandria's high school.
The school system had been considering whether school properties, specifically the Minnie Howard Campus of Alexandria’s high school, could be a good place to build affordable housing. The school system had also considered this for the rebuilding of Douglas MacArthur Elementary School.
Affordable housing is a significant need in Alexandria, which lost more than 15,500 affordable units between 2000 and 2018. Multiple affordable housing projects are currently in the works, but much more is needed to serve residents.
School capacity is also a significant concern, as most public schools in Alexandria are already at or above capacity.
Ultimately, the school board members decided that the Minnie Howard school property should be used for educational purposes and preserving the option to further expand the school in the future is the best use of the space they have.
Minnie Howard's campus will be rebuilt as part of The High School Project, which is re-envisioning education for grades 9 - 12 in Alexandria.
Alexandria officials will be renovating or rebuilding multiple school properties in the next decade, either because the buildings are old, too small or no longer adequately serve the needs of students. There is a chance that affordable housing could come up as a possibility in future school construction projects.
