On Sep. 8, 2025, the Alexandria City High School Wi-Fi disconnected from every non-school -designated device. Consequently, students are now having trouble using Minga — the online identification app required by ACHS — on their phones because they are no longer allowed on the Wi-Fi. 

According to Emily Dillard, the Chief Information Officer at Alexandria City Public Schools, “Alexandria City Public Schools solely allows ACPS devices to be connected to the ACPS Wi-Fi network. Connecting personal devices to the ACPS network is not allowed and outlined in the Student Code of Conduct.” 

In the Responsible Use of Technology Agreement for students in 2025-2026 it states, “I will not use any personal electronic devices, phones, chromebooks or computers on an ACPS network.”

Dillard said they made this decision “to ensure security, safety and optimal network performance.”

Now, with the recent changes in Wi-Fi access, Netflix, Disney+, Prime, YouTube and other streaming services are blocked.

Katherine Bentley, a Dual Enrollment English teacher at ACHS, said, “Certain websites are blocked that can be educational. So YouTube being blocked was a real stresser for my students.” She also said that she uses Netflix for educational documentaries. 

“The school needs to be better about acknowledging that there are some educational websites or educational content on websites that we’re just blanket-blocking, which isn’t good for teachers who want to give their kids more exciting content,” Bentley said.

The restrictions of Wi-Fi access have also affected teachers’ personal devices. Bentley said, “I used to be [on the Wi-Fi on my phone] but then I got kicked off.” 

English and creative writing teacher Kelly Church Connelly is also not connected to the school Wi-Fi on her phone. “YouTube, for instance, is always blocked for students, but there are videos that I try to use for my teaching,” said Connelly.

“Disney+ is blocked, there’s so many great Pixar shorts and things that we use for literary elements as part of the English curriculum to teach those.” 

“We complain about this often,” added Connelly, yet the school has not addressed the restriction issues. 

Many teachers have said that they do not have access to the Wi-fi, but some teachers have said otherwise. One teacher at the Minnie Howard campus who wished to remain anonymous said, “The school [administraters] sent all of the teachers and the support staff an email, and that gave you access to [their own personal Wi-Fi connection], everyone has their own password [that allows two devices to connect].”

However, John Crites, Director of Infrastructure and Support, disagrees with this sentiment. “We did not remove Wi-Fi access from teachers’ [personal devices].”

Crites has been changing the Wi-Fi credentials since 2002 in the King Street campus, which he says is a routine procedure. “We normally change [the Wi-Fi credentials] once a year, if not multiple times.”

As part of new security policies, Minga was introduced to ACHS in the 2023-24 school year. This marked a change from in previous years, where students used physical IDs to transition from campus to campus. 

Several have complained that the app has slowed students down when switching campuses and making hall passes. 

“Even if it’s like, a minute here or there, overall throughout the entire year, it could be 50 minutes [missed] from a class.” The anonymous teacher said. The time spent getting into school due to waiting for the Wi-Fi adds up. 

Veronica Payne, a sophomore at ACHS said, “When I’m switching to King St., it’ll be so bad. It will take so long trying to get my Minga up.”

Despite former Governor Glenn Youngkin’s phone ban in Virginia public schools and the disconnection of school Wi-Fi on personal devices, Church Connelly said she “hasn’t seen any change in phone use.” 

Bently agrees, saying “I have noticed no difference [in student phone usage].”

Despite the efforts of ACPS to combat phone usage in school through their Responsible Use of Technology Agreement and the Wi-Fi blockages, students still face little restraint on their personal device usage and teachers are finding it difficult to work around the policies.