Public hearing Thursday on renaming four ACPS facilities
Board to hear community input on proposals that drew more than 1,400 poll responses; vote scheduled for Dec. 18
The Alexandria City School Board will hold a public hearing on Thursday on proposals to name four school facilities; decisions are complicated by close poll results, questions about costs, and debate over whether to change standards after petitioners followed the established process.
When: Thursday, Dec. 11, 5:00 p.m.
Where: School Board Meeting Room, 1340 Braddock Place
How to participate: Community members who wish to speak must sign up by noon on Wednesday, Dec. 10. Only remarks related to the four facility naming proposals will be heard. The hearing can be viewed via Zoom or on the ACPS website.
The four facilities under consideration:
The Field at Parker-Gray Stadium (Alexandria City High School, King Street Campus)
The Fields at Alexandria City High School (Minnie Howard Campus)
The Media Center at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School
The Courtyard at the Early Childhood Center
The proposals
More than 1,400 community members voted in November on names for the four facilities, but only one proposal earned clear majority support.
Owen’s Place for the Early Childhood Center courtyard received 75% support. The name honors Owen Michael Wagner, the late son of the center’s first principal, who aspired to become a teacher. An existing plaque is ready for installation at no cost — making it the only proposal with no budget impact.
The other three races were closer:
Kerry Donley Athletic Field Complex at Minnie Howard led Titan Territory Athletic Field Complex 49% to 39.7%, with 11.4% preferring no name. Donley served as Alexandria’s mayor from 1996 to 2003 and later as ACHS athletic director before his death in July 2022.
Keith Burns Field at Parker-Gray Stadium edged out Sgt. DeForest L. Talbert Field by just 17 votes — 40.1% to 38.6%. Burns, a 1990 T.C. Williams graduate, played 13 NFL seasons and won back-to-back Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos. Talbert, a 2001 graduate killed in Iraq in 2004, emerged as a write-in candidate. More than one in five respondents (21.3%) preferred leaving the field unnamed — the highest “Do Not Name” share among the contested facilities, with some citing concerns about diluting Parker-Gray’s historic significance as the segregated school that served Alexandria’s Black students from 1920 until integration.
Jean B. Reid Media Center at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary earned 50.1% support, defeating Karl F. Smith Media Center (30.1%), with 19.7% preferring no name. Reid served as an ACPS reading specialist from 1971 to 2001.
Board debate
Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt recommended last week that only Owen’s Place move forward, citing narrow margins and budget constraints for the other three.
But several board members pushed back, noting that petitioners followed the established policy requiring 100 signatures and months of community engagement.
“I don’t believe that we should change the policy for the selection of these three people,” board member Donna Kenley said.
Chair Michelle Rief noted that previous naming efforts had lower support levels — Alexandria City High School received 34% support in its renaming poll, and Naomi L. Brooks Elementary received 30%.
Kay-Wyatt said the recommendations were not a rejection of the honorees but about establishing clearer standards for signage and implementation.
What’s next
The board is scheduled to vote Dec. 18.
