The newest addition to Fairfax County Public Schools, Skyview High School in Herndon, is set to open this fall with over 700 ninth and tenth graders who opt in to attend the new school.
But the county school board is still deciding on a plan for full implementation of school boundaries — wherever those lines are drawn.
If the board adopts a plan proposed by Superintendent Michelle Reid at a meeting last Thursday (June 25), those boundaries will be phased in over a three school-year period and take full effect for the 2028-2029 school year.
A public hearing on the proposal, which includes a transportation plan, will be held July 13 before the school board votes on July 16.
“[In] ’27-28, we will accept a new ninth grade cohort, which will be added to the school from within the boundary that is voted on and approved on July 16,” Reid said in her presentation to the board.
“Students may still opt out and go to their former high school if the configuration of the school does not meet their educational needs,” she explained. “In other words, we won’t have a senior class yet in year two, so there may be some courses that won’t be available until we have a full senior class.”
While Skyview will become a Virginia High School League (VHSL) member starting in fall 2027, most teams will still need to use off-site fields and facilities, as additional renovations continue.
The school will work with the Fairfax County Park Authority to identify places to practice until athletic fields are complete in summer 2028, Reid said. Programs may also be limited.
FCPS is still working out some logistics for the upcoming school year, during which students are allowed to participate in sports at their existing base schools. Transportation will be provided to feeder high schools: Centreville, Chantilly, Oakton, South Lakes, and Westfield.
“One of the most consistent messages we’ve heard from families throughout the engagement process was the importance of transportation access,” Reid added. “The recommendation before the board ensures that transportation will be available for students who are eligible to attend the high school.”
Students who live within the designated attendance boundary will receive transportation using the standard neighborhood bus stop model. Students attending Skyview from outside the boundary during the 2027-28 school year may wind up using a “depot” transportation model where they’re dropped off and picked up at one of the five designated feeder schools, Reid said.
School board members had questions about the transportation model, including what it would take to provide students who opt in to Skyview during its first two years with neighborhood transportation throughout all of high school.
“Have you cost it out at all?” asked Mount Vernon District Representative Matteo Dunne. “What it would be to provide neighborhood bus transportation for all students who have opted into year one, and could that be presented to the school board?”
“We’ve run a series of numbers and feel like it’s within budget to do that,” Reid said, “but we can certainly get you better information on that.”
Ricardy Anderson, who represents Mason District, suggested Reid send out communications to FCPS families about the presentation. Sign ups for providing input at the public hearing are due July 9.
“It’s summer,” Anderson said. “People are all over the place, they may not know this is going on.”
