Fairfax County Public Schools

Published June 4, 2026 at 3:45PM

Ahmad Kaki, a staff attorney with CAIR, plays the video made by Thomas Jefferson High School students during a press conference June 4. (Screenshot via CAIR's Facebook page)

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.

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FCPS review backs Fairfax High School staff’s handling of student convicted of groping

By Angela Woolsey

Published June 2, 2026 at 8:30AM

Fairfax High School sign (file photo)

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

First responders honored for saving Bren Mar Park Elementary from fire

By Scott McCaffrey

Published June 1, 2026 at 10:00AM

Bren Mar Park Elementary School students thank firefighters and FCPS personnel (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

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.

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Graduating Mount Vernon student heads to West Point, inspired by father’s military service

By Mary Stachyra Lopez

Published May 27, 2026 at 1:45PM

Audrey Ortiz-Peterson, a Mount Vernon High School senior, will head to West Point this fall (Staff photo by Mary Stachyra Lopez)

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

Two FCPS students to compete in Scripps National Spelling Bee

By Mary Stachyra Lopez

Published May 21, 2026 at 3:45PM

Fairfax County Spelling Bee 2026 winner Laasya Mohan, a fourth grader at Floris Elementary School, and runner-up Aadhya Vijayakumar, an eighth grade student at Rocky Run Middle School, with their trophies (photo by Karen Bolt/FCPS)

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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Reuse of private academy as public Skyview High School approved

By Nolan Stout

Published May 20, 2026 at 8:30AM

Skyview High School exterior (via Fairfax County Public Schools)

Fairfax County planners have given their blessing for the first batch of students to start at the new Skyview High School in the upcoming school year.

At its May 13 meeting, the Fairfax County Planning Commission unanimously signed off on the use of the former King Abdullah Academy campus as a public facility.

Countywide

FCPS proposes budget cuts to cover $28 million funding gap

By Mary Stachyra Lopez

Published May 13, 2026 at 9:15AM

Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid presents her proposed reductions in the fiscal year 2027 budget to the school board on May 7, 2026 (via FCPS/YouTube)

Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid has proposed trimming a number of items from the school system’s fiscal year 2027 budget to address a $28.9 million shortfall.

“At this time,” Reid wrote in a May 8 letter to FCPS families, “I am proposing to make up the difference by reducing the staffing reserve, leveraging alternative major maintenance funding, extending the time to refresh FCPSOn technology devices, deferring microcredentialing, reducing math adoption curriculum materials, and reducing the Superintendent’s Strategic Reserve.”

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Judge dismisses lawsuit alleging FCPS retaliated against teacher for abortion claims

By Mary Stachyra Lopez

Published May 11, 2026 at 2:45PM | Updated May 13, 2026 at 10:13AM

Zenaida Perez speaks during a press conference in front of the Fairfax County Courthouse on Oct. 29, 2025 (staff photo by Jared Serre)

A federal judge has dismissed a Centreville High School teacher’s lawsuit alleging retaliation and violations of whistleblower protection laws by Fairfax County Public Schools after she claimed that school staff helped minors obtain abortions.

In his memorandum opinion, issued May 8, Judge Anthony J. Trenga wrote that the teacher, Zenaida Perez, had “failed to plead facts which, when viewed most favorably to her, plausibly give rise to a claim for whistleblower retaliation.”

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FCPS officials stress plan to engage community on future Skyview HS boundaries

By Nolan Stout

Published May 7, 2026 at 9:15AM

One proposed scenario for the future Skyview High School boundaries (via FCPS)

Fairfax County Public Schools is increasing opportunities for public input on the proposed attendance boundary for the new Skyview High School.

Superintendent Michele Reid told the Fairfax County School Board at its work session Tuesday (May 5) that she wants to add a third round of community engagement.

Countywide

Fairfax school board encourages delaying smartphone use until eighth grade

By Nolan Stout

Published April 29, 2026 at 8:30AM | Updated April 29, 2026 at 3:04PM

People looking at and scrolling on smartphones (via ROBIN WORRALL on Unsplash)

Fairfax County Public Schools will now recommend that families don’t give their children a smartphone before eighth grade.

At its meeting last week (April 23), the Fairfax County School Board approved a “Wait Until 8th” resolution that expresses support for “developmentally appropriate smartphone use as a community norm,” encouraging parents to hold off on giving their kids a smartphone until they finish eighth grade.