Fairfax County Public Schools is asking an appeals court to accelerate proceedings in its lawsuit over the U.S. Education Department cutting it off from federal funds.
The request filed last Thursday (Oct. 2) came a day after a three-judge panel with the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously denied the school system’s bid to stop the federal government from freezing or canceling any more funds while the case is in court.
A planned renovation of Willow Springs Elementary School is still on track, as Fairfax County officials extend a review period for the project.
The Board of Supervisors unanimously voted last Tuesday (Sept. 30) to extend the deadline for county review of the proposal to May 27, 2026. The board approved the extension as part of its administrative items with no discussion.
Half a decade after Fairfax County launched a solar panel initiative touted as the largest in Virginia to date, the first major installation at a public school is nearing completion.
Rooftop solar panels have been under construction at Olde Creek Elementary School (9524 Old Creek Drive) since Aug. 1 and are on track to become fully operational by Oct. 13, according to Fairfax County Public Schools.
Poe Middle School is getting closer to having an Advanced Academic Program (AAP) center of its own, and other middle schools could soon follow suit.
The Fairfax County School Board voted unanimously last Thursday (Sept. 25) to begin engaging with the community on a plan to open a new AAP center at Poe (7000 Cindy Lane), which would be the first middle school in the Annandale High School pyramid to offer full-time advanced academic services.
A staffer at Thomas Edison High School is accused of sexually assaulting two students on separate occasions, police said.
Derrick Burroughs, 40, was arrested and charged yesterday (Tuesday) with two counts of aggravated sexual battery and one count of indecent liberties with a child by a custodian, the Fairfax County Police Department announced this morning.
Fairfax County school leaders are paying careful attention to start-of-school enrollment figures, attempting to determine if the Trump administration’s immigration policies are leading some families to keep their children at home.
“Some students are a bit reluctant to be in school at this time,” Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid told school board members during a Sept. 25 report on the first month of classes.
The new school year is just over a month in, but several Fairfax County School Board members are still thinking about a summer break that some families have lamented was too short.
“Something has to change,” Mason District Representative Ricardy Anderson said at the Sept. 25 board meeting.
Fairfax County Public Schools has managed to significantly reduce its bus driver vacancies, which in turn is bumping up on-time rates.
As part of her “Opening of Schools” report, Superintendent Michelle Reid reported last Thursday (Sept. 25) that 96% of bus routes were completed on time to start the current school year — a figure that astounded some School Board members.
The Trump administration is moving forward with a threat to withhold over $3 million in grant funding for Fairfax County’s public magnet schools.
The U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights gave Fairfax County Public Schools and districts in Chicago and New York City until Tuesday (Sept. 23) to agree to stop giving students access to locker rooms and restrooms corresponding with their gender identity or risk losing funding for specialty magnet schools.
County leaders have now joined School Board members in pushing for more early budget collaboration, to avoid repeating an impasse that soured relationships last spring.
At a Sept. 16 meeting of the Board of Supervisors’ Budget Policy Committee, County Executive Bryan Hill said school leaders needed to develop a “budget of reality” for fiscal 2027.
