Following harsh criticism from the student body, Alexandria City High school has made the decision to begin construction for a new way of transporting students.
A monorail will be implemented between the Minnie Howard and King St. campus to transport students during passing periods. Although taking buses between these two campuses is tolerable, this system will dramatically improve student and staff satisfaction.
This will be officially named Titans Monorail, after the famous Remember the Titans movie.
Construction is set to begin on April 15th at 4:09pm. According to ACHS’ projected timeline, the monorail will be accessible to the student body by the start of the 2027-2028 school year.
Unfortunately, the Bradlee Shopping Center as well as Safeway will be out of service until construction of the monorail is completed. The city is also considering restricting all motor use of the portion of King St. and W Braddock Rd road between the two campuses.
Administrators believe the transportation delays as well as the inconvenience to businesses in the Bradlee shopping center will be worth it upon the completion of the Titans Monorail.
According to the construction plan, ACPS will be putting $80 million towards this project. This money will be taken out of various parts of the current budget, including, but not limited to school bathrooms, teacher salaries and school lunches.
“I’m certain that investing in this monorail is the best use of our funding,” school board member Jacob Rogers said, “The lasting impact of this will greatly decrease the long term financial burden of inter-campus transportation.”
In an interview with Theogony, the school board emphasized the importance of using the Monorail, threatening consequences as extreme as expulsion for those who don’t comply.
ACPS Administrator Jamie Robertson spearheaded the planning of the Titans Monorail, claiming that it would greatly increase the overall quality of ACHS.
“Students must first scan their Minga ID and make a Minga pass to transition campuses prior to boarding the new monorail,” she said “This system will greatly improve environmental impact, time efficiency and general contentment.”
The student body appears to have extremely mixed opinions about this topic, ranging from complete approval to disbelief.
“It doesn’t really impact me because I’ll be graduated by then,” senior Jess Upton said, “But it sounds pretty cool I guess”
“Well it’s just a waste of time, I doubt many people are actually going to take the monorail,” junior Christian Brown said, “I for one am just going to walk between campuses.”
