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.
A union representing some Fairfax County Public Schools’ (FCPS) employees rallied yesterday (Tuesday) for restoration of pay, benefits and staffing levels negotiated last year but not funded by county leaders.
“We’re here to make sure the Board of Supervisors knows … they cannot leave the schools behind,” Fairfax County Federation of Teachers (FCFT) President Emily VanDerhoff said at the late-afternoon event, held in front of the Fairfax County Governmental Center.
Hoping to alleviate parents’ concerns about the frequency of disruptions this school year, the Fairfax County School Board has backed a calendar for the upcoming academic year that cuts down on the number of early-release days and nixes Veterans Day as a holiday.
At its meeting Thursday (April 9), the board debated the calendar for the upcoming school year in an effort to cut down on weeks with fewer than five days of classes.
As the current school year enters its final stretch, the Fairfax County School Board is considering tweaking the calendar for the next year in response to mounting complaints about disruptions to class schedules.
At the board’s meeting tomorrow (Thursday), members led by governance committee chair Melanie Meren will propose nixing Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Veterans Day as official student holidays and limiting the number of scheduled early release days to four per year.
Two school board members have proposed a new way for Fairfax County Public Schools to add revenue: selling the naming rights to school athletic facilities.
Introduced as “new business” last week, a motion directing Superintendent Michelle Reid to develop a plan to accommodate such negotiations is set to be voted on by the full Fairfax County School Board at its meeting tomorrow (Thursday).
As Fairfax County Public Schools officials develop a policy regulating the use of artificial intelligence in the classroom, some parents worry the division is already too reliant on technology.
Several parents expressed concerns about technology use to the Fairfax County School Board during its meeting last Thursday (March 19).
The Braddock District’s newest representative on the Fairfax County School Board has officially taken office.
Tom Dannan, who defeated GOP-endorsed Saundra Davis earlier this month, was formally sworn in prior to last night’s board meeting. He replaces Rachna Sizemore Heizer, and will serve the remainder of a term that ends in 2027.
A former chair of the Fairfax County School Board’s budget committee will return to the panel after a judge tossed out a complaint accusing him of embezzling $175,000 from a company he was a part owner of.
Kyle McDaniel, who served as the budget committee chair for 10 months before stepping down last April, is expected to be appointed vice chair of the committee when the school board meets tonight (Thursday), according to the meeting agenda.
Fairfax County Public Schools officials are open to a more robust artificial intelligence policy, but a final version is still a few months from being ready for primetime.
Staff have been working since October on a comprehensive policy governing the use of AI, an umbrella term for technology that uses computer systems to handle complex tasks. Artificial intelligence has become colloquially associated with generative tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which are trained on existing text, video and images to produce “new” content.
Local business owner Tom Dannan will be the Braddock District’s next representative on the Fairfax County School Board.
Endorsed by local Democrats in a caucus on Jan. 10, the 41-year-old Terra Centre resident bested GOP-supported Saundra Davis in a special election today (Tuesday), securing the seat with approximately 65% of the vote, according to unofficial results.
