Fairfax County Public Schools’ legal bid to restore funding withheld by the U.S. Department of Education due to its policies supporting transgender and other gender-expansive students has found new life.
A three-judge panel from the U.S. Appeals Court for the Fourth Circuit ruled 2-1 yesterday (Thursday) to send the lawsuit filed by FCPS and Arlington Public Schools (APS) in August 2025 back to a federal district court that had previously dismissed the complaint.
Fairfax County Public Schools has acquired a quantum computer, touted as the world’s first for kindergarten through 12th-grade students, for its new Skyview High School in the Floris area south of Herndon.
Roughly the size of a small refrigerator, the computer is expected to be installed in December and become available next spring to FCPS students, enabling them to explore quantum concepts, understand how the machine differs from a traditional computer, and test problems.
The state government needs to step up and take some of the burden for funding core services off the backs of Northern Virginia residents and localities, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay told members of the county’s legislative delegation.
“The exhaustion level is getting real,” McKay said of the state pushing off its funding responsibilities to the local level.
Members of Fairfax County’s General Assembly delegation are asking county supervisors and school board members to lower the rhetoric when it comes to state funding for local K-12 education.
“Be thoughtful about the way you talk,” Del. Laura Jane Cohen (D-16) told the Board of Supervisors during an Oct. 6 joint work session between the board and the county’s state legislative representatives.
Within the next few years, all middle school age students who qualify for advanced academic programs in Fairfax County Public Schools will have the opportunity to take those courses without leaving their neighborhood schools.
Under a plan approved by the school board on a 10-1 vote last Thursday (Aug. 27), FCPS will transition over several years from a model that let many students opt out of their assigned local school to join other students at one with an established advanced academic program, or AAP, center.
As Fairfax County Public Schools students prepare for their first day of school next Monday (Aug. 24), the Fairfax County School Board is making its own back-to-school to-do list. Near the top of the agenda: an updated digital literacy curriculum.
A work session on Tuesday (Aug. 18) provided a glimpse of the tasks ahead for the school board this year, and staff’s efforts over the summer to implement high-profile mandates around the curriculum, including updates related to artificial intelligence literacy.
A Lake Braddock Secondary School art teacher spent 30 years sharing her passion for painting, photography, and pottery with students — a legacy that her family has carried on for nearly a decade through whimsical, often high-tech educational creations.
When Theresa Jacobs passed away from a fast-growing cancer in 2017, her son Eric Jacobs, a Fairfax County native, wanted to honor her love for learning and ignite that same spark in others.
The Fairfax County School Board recently voted to confirm calendars for the 2027-28 and 2028-29 school years that emphasize full five-day instructional weeks, while preserving a full week of spring break and two full weeks of winter break.
Superintendent Michelle Reid proposed calendars last Thursday (July 9) that maintain the 180 instructional days required by Virginia law and follow extensive parameters passed by the board earlier this summer. The school board adopted the proposal on a 10-1 vote.
Fairfax County’s school board recently passed a resolution supporting limitations on screen time and access to devices by grade level, as well as opt-out options for families.
On the same night, members voted to approve a one-year extension of a contract for a hybrid fourth-grade social studies curriculum, covering an electronic book text, the ability to replace print textbooks as needed, and supplemental materials that can be printed.
Northern Virginia leaders are treading cautiously with newly granted power to increase the sales tax in local jurisdictions.
Under the biennial state budget adopted in Richmond late last month, Northern Virginia localities now have the power to hold voter referendums to increase sales taxes by up to 1%, with the extra funding going to transportation, education or a combination.
