Countywide

A number of new laws will take effect in Virginia this weekend, including expanded school zones, a prohibition on sexual harassment non-disclosure agreements, and classification of fentanyl as a “weapon of terrorism.”

Most laws passed by the General Assembly and signed by the governor each year go into effect on July 1, which marks the beginning of the new fiscal year.


Countywide

A long-delayed effort to outfit Fairfax County Public Schools’ buses with cameras has officially received the green light from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

At a meeting yesterday (Tuesday), the board unanimously approved an agreement allowing the Fairfax County Police Department to participate in a program that will install 50 bus camera systems to detect drivers who don’t stop when buses are boarding and off-loading students.


News

Another boundary adjustment is in the works for schools in McLean.

Just two years after tweaking the McLean High School boundaries, Fairfax County Public Schools has proposed a study aimed at relieving crowding at Kent Gardens Elementary School (1717 Melbourne Drive), which is currently at 121% capacity — one of the highest rates in the system.


Countywide

(Updated at 11 a.m. on 6/27/2023) The Fairfax County School Board voted 9-1 last night (Monday) to raise member salaries to $48,000 with an additional $2,000 for the board chair, starting Jan. 1, 2024.

Aiming lower than what staff proposed, the raises are comparable to compensation for other paid school boards governing large school systems elsewhere in the country and raises approved in previous years, Mount Vernon District School Board representative Karen Corbett-Sanders said.


Countywide

This past spring, Fairfax County Public Schools launched a new Twilight Program to assist students whose “life circumstances” beyond the classroom complicated their ability to attend classes.

The program operates outside of the traditional 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. high school day with the goal of helping students graduate on time, FCPS Special Projects Administrator for the Non-Traditional Schools and Programs Joe Thompson says.


News

(Updated at 12:45 p.m. on 6/16/2023) As Pride Month got underway, a pair of hate incidents targeting the LGBTQ community shook up Falls Church and West Potomac high schools.

At Falls Church High School (7521 Jaguar Trail) in West Falls Church, a student admitted to stealing a rainbow Pride flag from the school and burning it, principal Ben Nowak said in a message to the school community on June 6.


Around Town

The work of local school students will be on display in the latest exhibit at the Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art (Tephra ICA) in Reston

Part of a partnership with local schools that’s in its fifth year, the “Emerging Visions” exhibit will feature work created in response to an exhibit put on by artist Dominic Chambers last fall.


News

The Fairfax County Police Department has bolstered its presence in Franconia today (Wednesday) after a man reportedly tried to abduct a child near Island Creek Elementary School yesterday.

The encounter occurred at 4:15 p.m. when a 10-year-old was walking on Morning View Lane to get to a playground, police said:


Countywide

The unexpectedly long-running saga of Fairfax County Public Schools’ delayed National Merit Scholarship commendation notices has added a new page.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has petitioned the Fairfax County Circuit Court to require FCPS to turn over the full report it commissioned from an outside law firm in January, killing any hopes school officials had that releasing a summary of the review’s findings would resolve the state investigation.


News

The renovation of Reston’s Armstrong Elementary School is expected to begin in the spring of next year, according to Fairfax County Public Schools.

The school system has formally submitted a proposal before the county to add 126,000 square feet and modern amenities to the school.


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