News

A Senate committee and Virginia State Police have concluded their separate investigations into a Centreville High School teacher’s claims that school staff facilitated abortions without parental consent, Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid said this week.

“Neither investigation found any evidence of wrongdoing or any need for further action,” Reid wrote in a letter to the school’s staff and families. “This situation has had a significant impact on all of those involved, and it reminds us of the responsibility we all share to act thoughtfully, with integrity, and compassionately as a caring, connected community.”


Countywide

After a contentious debate, the Fairfax County School Board will give parents the opportunity to opt out of take-home laptops and tablets in the upcoming school year and study stronger screen limits and restrictions.

At its meeting Thursday (June 11), the board discussed restrictions on screen time and school-provided devices for students amid local, regional and national pushback against technology in classrooms, particularly in elementary schools.


Weather

It’s going to be another hot, humid day in Fairfax County, which will be under Heat Advisory from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. today (Friday).

As it did yesterday, Fairfax County Public Schools has canceled all outdoor activities on school grounds during the time covered by the advisory, including recess, extracurricular activities and recreational programs by community groups.


Countywide

Fairfax County planners want to expedite their review process for public school facilities with several projects on the horizon.

The county Planning Commission’s schools committee held a meeting to discuss Fairfax County Public Schools’ upcoming capital projects on June 4.


News

Three people employed by Fairfax County Public Schools were arrested this week for different crimes at local schools, including one case of allegedly inappropriate behavior with a student.

According to the Fairfax County Police Department, Langley High School math teacher Matthew Thorsen, 38, was taken into custody at his home in Reston yesterday (Thursday) after detectives found that he had “engaged in unlawful and inappropriate contact with a student.”


Countywide

A Muslim civil rights group is suing Fairfax County Public Schools for suspending several students after they created a “kidnapping” video for social media to promote their chapter of the Muslim Student Association (MSA) last fall.

The video was intended to depict a “playful overreaction” in response to a “specific, viral comedy skit circulating nationwide,” according to a filing submitted by the CAIR Legal Defense Fund today (June 4) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria.


News

Fairfax High School’s response to reports that a student was groping female peers was fully consistent with Fairfax County Public Schools protocols for handling sexual misconduct, Superintendent Michelle Reid says.

FCPS hired an outside law firm in March to conduct a review of how staff and administrators handled the complaints against 18-year-old Israel Flores Ortiz after multiple parents of victims told WJLA that they felt the school had “diminished” their children’s experiences and “attempted to sweep it under the rug.”


News

Bren Mar Park Elementary School students, staff and PTA leaders gathered last Friday (May 29) to thank those who saved their school the previous month.

The full school community turned out to welcome Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department personnel and those from Fairfax County Public Schools’ facilities team who responded to the April 19 two-alarm blaze on the roof of a new addition to the school.


News

When Audrey Ortiz-Peterson was in middle school, she wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps by joining the military someday. His suggestion to start running for fun, though, was a lot less appealing.

“I was not a fan,” Ortiz-Peterson, a senior at Mount Vernon High School in Alexandria, recalled. “It was not very fun to me.”


News

Laasya Mohan has a study routine: first, the fourth grader at Floris Elementary School sorts spelling words by topic. Then, she further divides them into two lists — the ones she feels sure that she knows how to spell, and ones she feels unsure of. She examines the roots of words and considers language patterns. Finally, her mom quizzes her.

The intense process often lasts five hours a day — but it has paid off.


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