By Wafir Salih | wsalih@alextimes.com
Christopher Harris, a lifelong Alexandrian and current School Board member, is seeking his second term with a focus on redistricting, addressing overcrowding and ensuring there are equitable resources across the school division.
“We have a lot more work to do. We are in the middle of redistricting, collective bargaining, a new budget. We’re building schools to handle capacity,” he said. “I don’t want to leave this work undone. I started it, so I want to be around to finish it and to see it through.”
Harris was born and raised in the city and is a fifth-generation Alexandrian. He graduated from T.C. Williams High School, now known as Alexandria City High School, in 1992. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Norfolk State University in finance and earned another bachelor’s degree in business management and economics from National Louis University.
Harris has specialized in urban development and school construction for the past eight years. He got into construction soon after college after completing some internships and became more interested in safety over time.
“I wanted to get a little more familiar with the nuances of why you’re building certain spaces, how you build, what determines how you build and construct and the safety piece of it,” he said. “I strayed toward the safety side of it because, at the time, there weren’t a lot of minorities in safety.”
Harris now works for Potomac Construction in addition to his own business, Harris Safety Solutions and Logistics, a training, consulting and management services company that staffs safety professionals throughout the region.
He’s been involved in public education ever since college, and coached high school football for eight years at Alexandria City Public Schools. He also volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club.
Harris said he, along with his three children who went on to start their careers, received a great education in ACPS and he wants to ensure today’s students can enjoy those same benefits.
“I look at the state of education now, and I realize that I could easily walk away with the experiences that I had and just go on with my life, but there’s a lot of individuals and there’s a lot of children that don’t have the same opportunity or support that I did. So, I wanted to use what I had to turn back and give back to my community,” he said.
Harris said a number of factors must be considered when redistricting the city, but it will help with the overcrowding issues facing the school system.
“It’s a big deal, because a lot of families may have to change schools. The kids that were going to [one] school their entire school career may have to go to other schools based on the redistricting lines,” Harris said. “It can be a really contentious process, which it has been every time we do it. Hopefully this time will be less contentious.”
He also emphasized the need for equitable resources for schools, particularly in the West End.
“We have different areas of the city that don’t have the same opportunities as other areas of the city, and everyone should also have the opportunity and the means to excel. You can’t excel unless you have the resources and the tools to do so,” he said.
Harris emphasized the challenge of retaining teachers and staff in Alexandria and said there is competition for resources from surround-ing localities.
“We’re in a city that’s surrounded by other competing localities, and everyone’s fighting and pulling for the same resources as teachers, educators, bus drivers – just employees in general,” he said.
Harris started a program, Spill The Tea, in August where he engages with community members to discuss their concerns over a cup of coffee. He held the first one at Cameron Cafe, and plans to hold another session later this month and make it a recurring monthly event moving forward.