Tag: school board

School board rejects proposal to close school for four more religious holidays
Despite intense lobbying from families and faith communities, the Fairfax County School Board adopted a 2021-22 calendar that does not close schools on four holidays important to the Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh communities. Religious groups and individual families had urged the board to close schools on Rosh Hashanah (Sept. 6), Yom Kippur (Sept. 15), … Continued

School board to consider elementary school boundary changes
A boundary adjustment could relieve overcrowding at Glen Forest Elementary School in Bailey’s Crossroads. Families in the Justice High School pyramid are invited to a series of meetings March 9 and 10 to discuss a proposal for adjusting elementary school attendance areas. Many of the elementary schools that feed into Justice have experienced an increase … Continued

Fairfax County School Board delays in-person instruction
Staff at Poe Middle School prepare new books for delivery to students’ homes. [FCPS] The Fairfax County School Board agreed to pause Superintendent Scott Brabrand’s updated plan for returning all students to in-person learning. Under Brabrand’s proposal, presented at a school board work session Jan. 5, students in groups 1-4 (certain special education and career and … Continued

Fairfax County school board adopts holistic admissions policy for Thomas Jefferson High School
The entrance to TJ is modeled after Monticello. [Keith Pham] The Fairfax County School Board has agreed to a new, holistic admissions policy for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, beginning with TJ’s class of 2025. “The board sought to develop an admissions policy that recognized historical inequities and addressed racial and socioeconomic … Continued

Fairfax County school board considers revised proposals for TJ
TJ students in the school’s robotics lab. [File photo] The Fairfax County School Board is considering two revised proposals for changing the admissions process to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. The board has been discussing TJ admissions for months in response to concerns that the current system for the elite school discriminates … Continued

Under FCPS return-to-school plan, all students won’t be back until February
The Fairfax Federation of Teachers held a car rally Oct. 15 at the FCPS Gatehouse Administration Center in Merrifield. The Fairfax County School Board has deadlocked, 6-6, on whether to endorse Superintendent Scott Brabrand’s schedule for bringing students back for in-person learning. Under Brabrand’s plan, presented at a school board work session board Oct. 15, … Continued

Thomas Jefferson HS alumni demand a more equitable admissions process
TJ alumni at a protest outside the school on Oct. 4. [Photos: TJAAG] Members of the TJ Alumni Action Group (TJAAG) held a rally in front of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Oct. 4 to urge Fairfax County Public Schools to drop the test-based admissions system in favor of a merit-based lottery. … Continued

Fairfax County Public Schools to start in-person learning in October for certain groups of students
These teachers at Camelot Elementary School in Annandale are continuing with virtual instruction. [FCPS] The Fairfax County School Board has approved a plan by Superintendent Scott Brabrand to gradually bring back students for in-person learning starting in October. The first groups would return to school under a cohort model, in which small groups of students … Continued

School board renames Lee High School for John Lewis
Lee High School [Fox5] The Fairfax County School Board voted July 23 to rename Robert E. Lee High School in Springfield after the late U.S. Congressman John R. Lewis. The new name will be effective for the 2020-21 school year. “The board heard from students, teachers and staff members, families, and the community about the … Continued

Ricardy Anderson of Mason District elected school board chair
Anderson The Fairfax County School Board, at its July 9 meeting, elected Ricardy Anderson of Mason District as chair for a one-year term. The school board also agreed to revise the 2020-21 school calendar to delay the start of the school year from Aug. 25 to Sept. 8. Related story: FCPS gives families more time … Continued

Fairfax County to review Confederate place names
John Marr Drive in Annandale is thought to be named for the first Confederate soldier killed in the Civil War, although there is no evidence that John Marr had a connection to Annandale. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on June 23 approved a request by supervisors Dalia Palchik (Providence) and Walter Alcorn (Hunter Mill) … Continued

Fairfax County school officials provide more details on return-to-school alternatives
An FCPS town hall with (from the left) Manager of School Health Services Lorraine Trouton, Superindent Scott Brabrand, and Assistant Superintendent Jeffrey Platenburg. Fairfax County Public School officials have provided more information on options for the 2020-21 school year. The following information is from two recent virtual town halls – a session on June 17 … Continued

FCPS weighs options for fall and for graduation
Signs like these are cropping up all over. The Fairfax County School Board reviewed three possible scenarios for the 2020-21 school year at a May 11 work session. Meanwhile, a state-level COVID-19 Education Task Force plans to issue policy guidance in June on the conditions for reopening schools. The three possibilities considered for fall 2020 … Continued

A school board member answers questions about the Blackboard failure
Kindergarten teachers have a message for their students. [FCPS] The failure of Blackboard Learn 24-7 as a key piece of Fairfax County Public Schools’ distance learning program has raised many questions about how it happened and what the school system is doing to move forward. School board member Rachna Sizemore Heizer (at large), who has … Continued

FCPS apologizes for distance learning failure
Superintendent Scott Brabrand says distance learning will work properly this week. [FCPS] When distance learning starts up again Monday, April 20, Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Brabrand assured the community and school board that the problems have been fixed. Distance learning initially started last Tuesday, but FCPS briefly suspended the program, then canceled it … Continued