Fairfax County residents may soon get to provide input on the public school system’s boundary review process.
After amending its boundary adjustment policy over the summer, Fairfax County Public Schools awarded a $546,953 contract in September to the Connecticut-based K-12 education consultancy firm Thru Consultants for a comprehensive review of its boundaries.
While the timing and location of the listening sessions are still being finalized, Thru Consultants co-founder David Irwin said the agency plans to hold five in-person and one virtual session before the Thanksgiving break.
“[We plan to] have a session in all six regions before we break up the holidays,” he told Fairfax County School Board members during an Oct. 8 work session.
Earlier this year, the school board decided to overhaul its boundary adjustment policy for the first time in nearly 40 years after struggling with piecemeal changes to address overcrowding in several schools across the district.
Under the new policy, the FCPS superintendent must conduct a division-wide review of school boundaries every five years and submit recommendations, if any, for potential adjustments to the school board for approval.
The superintendent can also make temporary boundary adjustments in emergencies, like natural disasters, and expedited changes to address overcrowding from new development, transportation issues or construction delays.
The policy emphasizes the need for the superintendent to hold community listening sessions and create an advisory committee made up of teachers, parents, students, school administrators and other stakeholders to provide feedback as part of the boundary review process.
Applications for the advisory committee closed on Friday (Oct. 18). An FCPS spokesperson told FFXnow that the school system received over 1,000 applications to fill 40 spots.
Despite opposition from some community members, who expressed concerns about the policy’s impact on student stability and mental health, school board members argue the changes will help balance enrollment and improve access to programs and resources.
After the amended boundary adjustment policy was approved on July 18, Superintendent Michelle Reid indicated she planned to introduce a comprehensive project management plan by the end of summer, detailing strategies for public engagement, data gathering and a transportation analysis as part of the boundary review process.
Thru’s contract includes a project management plan, website development, stakeholder engagement, data collection, scenario development and boundary change approval. Though the consultant is expected to deliver its recommendations by Jan. 31, 2026, the contract will remain in effect until Aug. 31, 2027, with an option for a one-year renewal.
According to the Fairfax County Times, some community stakeholders, including the FairFACTS Matters Foundation — a nonprofit group that says it advocates for Fairfax County students and families — opposed the decision to hire Thru, raising concerns about the competitiveness of the bidding process and the firm’s qualifications.
Mount Vernon District Representative Mateo Dunne told the Times that Reid consulted with the “20 largest school systems in the country,” which recommended Irwin’s firm.
During the Oct. 8 work session, Irwin, a former school board member in Madison, New Jersey, said his firm has experience with boundary review work in other large districts, including Houston Independent School District (189,000 students) and Miami-Dade County Public Schools (337,172 students).
He also noted that the agency’s advisors include Robert Avossa, former superintendent of Fulton and Palm Beach County public schools, two of the largest districts in the country.
“I served with [Avossa] as a consultant when I was at Gartner Inc. for both Fulton and Palm Beach County Schools, and we’ve worked together for the past decade on many large engagements like this,” Irwin said.
