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Manassas City Public Schools is asking for City Council’s sign-off on a nearly $11 million purchase of the Centreville Road building that currently houses the school system’s central office.
The School Board voted Tuesday night to request council’s authorization to appropriate funds to purchase the property for its alternative education pilot program. The unanimous vote called for authorization from council to appropriate and expend $10.75 million from the school division’s fund balance to purchase the property at 8700 Centreville Road in Manassas.
In addition to using the property as a space for the alternative education program, the division plans to continue to house its central office there.
“This building will be the site for our alternative [education] pilot program,” School Board Member Sara Brescia said. “It will help us address some concerns people have about our student behaviors and delivering proper student support. So it is a plan to benefit students.”
The School Board has previously explored purchasing the Centreville Road building. In February 2023, it sent a letter to the council requesting a vote on a funding package for the purchase after months of back-and-forth between the bodies on the proposal.
According to the letter, sent Feb. 8, 2023, the owner of the building was looking for a “final determination” on a possible sale by Feb. 28.
Those talks ultimately did not result in the division purchasing the building.
In an additional unanimous vote Tuesday, the School Board formally requested authorization from City Council to spend $2 million from the school division’s fund balance to support the implementation and operation of the pilot alternative education program for fiscal 2026.
The school system currently uses Independence Nontraditional school in Prince William County as an alternative education program, but that program has limited spots — roughly 20 — for Manassas students.
Manassas will continue that relationship, but the development of its own program will help the division to augment its offerings.
Students considered for the alternative education include:
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Those with persistent behavioral challenges requiring more intensive intervention services than can be offered in a traditional classroom setting
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Students or parents can also make voluntary enrollment requests for alternative education
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Students identified as at-risk or those who generally need a different, smaller educational setting than traditional schools can offer
“These two resolutions tonight represent a lot of work,” said Vice Chair Jill Spall, “but they represent a lot of work that’s coming up, too, but there is an established need for our students that are unable to learn for whatever reason in a traditional setting.”
If the City Council approves the resolution, there are a number of steps the division needs to take to get the program up and running, including obtaining a special use permit. The division would also need to hire a number of different staff, including:
- Administrator
- Educators (general education, special education and English for Speakers of Other Languages, or ESOL)
- Mental health professional
- Counselor
- Instructional assistant
- Security officer
“This is a little bit of a leap of faith, you know, but it’s what our kids need,” Spall said.
