Coraggio Consulting
Fairfax County School Board Capital Improvement Program Public Hearing, Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Date: Tuesday, January 13, 2026
Place: Fairfax County School Board, Virginia
Length: 1h 11m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sNPWXNUK8E
Official School Board page (FCPS): https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/leadership/school-board

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-28. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:02:53] This January 13, 2026, public hearing in the Fairfax County School Board on Boundaries is called correction on capital improvement program is called to order at 6:02 PM. Mr. Frisch has submitted a request for virtual participation to the chair and the clerk of the board as part of a personal conflict.

[00:03:17] All in favor of Mr. Frisch for virtual participation, please say aye. That's Ms. Anderson, Ms. Lady, Mr. McElveen, Ms. Mirren, myself, Ms. Dixit, Mr. Moon. All opposed. Dr. Anderson, under state code section 2.2-3708.3.

[00:03:35] Please state for the record the reason for opposition. I object to virtual participation. Thank you. Will the clerk please read the vote? It's 7 to 1, and just to clarify, Mr. Frisch is for medical reasons, and he's located in Providence, Virginia.

[00:03:51] Thank you so much. Okay, Ms. St. John Cunning has notified the chair and the clerk of the board that she's using remote participation is she is caregiving for an individual with a disability thus Ms. St. John Cunning will be continued correction will be counted as an in-person for the purpose of quorum today and does not need to be voted in by the board she is located in Great Falls Virginia would Mr. Frisch and Ms. St. John Cunning please check their mics and camera I'm here hello thank you and is Ms. St.

[00:04:22] John Cunning with us we'll check that later good evening and welcome hearing for the FY731 capital improvement program and overflow testimony the superintendent's proposed school boundary adjustments on behalf of the entire school board i'd like to thank you for sharing your comments with us this hearing is being broadcast on channel 99 and live streamed on youtube and our website at fcps.edu forward slash live stream at the january 8 2026 regular meeting dr reed transmitted her proposed fy 2731 capital improvement program to the school board the fcps cip is a planning and fiscal management tool used to coordinate the location timing and funding of capital projects

[00:05:01] over five years the fcps cip is updated annually to reflect changing conditions within our schools and communities and builds upon the previously approved program of capital expenditures this includes the development of a five-year membership projection set facility capacity evaluations an annual update to the and funding of construction cash flow and a facilities management program also at the january 8 2026 regular meeting dr reid presented her proposed boundary adjustment recommendation and on saturday january 10 2026 the school board heard comments on the proposal at a public hearing and the public hearing is another op in this public hearing is other

[00:05:38] opportunity for those comments as well at this time i would like to call on dr reed for a statement and update thank you mr mcdaniel and it's uh definitely appreciate everyone coming out to share your feedback questions concerns um and thoughts uh regarding our boundary process and we did on Saturday the board and I and staff listened to a number of comments and have had the opportunity to go back and look at numbers and make sure that we're being thoughtful as we close out this really historic process for Fairfax County Public Schools so there are a couple areas that I

[00:06:16] want to clarify that I likely will be providing some amended recommendations of course this evening we still have yet to hear from community members so these aren't final but these are mr. McDaniel my thoughts to date in conversations with board members as well as staff so first of all I want to just address a couple areas I want to remind our community that we we embarked on this really historic process that we haven't had in 40 years one of the questions was would this be a

[00:06:51] recommendation to move everything in one year or would the recommendation come back to phase some of the recommended changes and so I think as we've gotten closer to the end here it's clear that we need to phase the recommendations to be thoughtful for all of our communities so I want to start with talking about Walney Oaks the SPA 4420 which we heard feedback on Saturday which reassigned original scenario for students from Franklin Middle School to Rocky Run which

[00:07:25] was part of our proximity platform or pillar in the boundary process per scenario for and we had green lighted that which was accurate from community members who spoke but it had gotten swept up in the pause for the Western High School so in looking at it with staff over the weekend and again yesterday afternoon, we feel like we can move forward with that adjustment for the fall of 26 and not risk moving students twice. And that was the concern about why it had been paused.

[00:07:57] So we appreciate the patience and the grace from our SPA 4420 neighbors, but we think we can move forward with that at this time. There's also an area, I want to flag a couple other notes. At this time, we're also running numbers on the Cardinal Forrest Keen Mill question, and so that's something I may hear a little more about tonight, but we're going to continue looking at numbers tomorrow before I post my final amended recommendations on Thursday.

[00:08:32] Another area that I want to flag for a January 27 recommendation, which means we want to take really a full year to be thoughtful about this, is our rolling valley spa 8922 where we still have a split feeder in that particular area but we really i think staff want to go out and engage with that neighborhood prior to making recommendations to the board in january of 2027. we also heard a lot of feedback from our beech tree elementary neighbors and to be fair i you know i really want to apologize to our beech

[00:09:10] tree families i do agree that that recommendation came in very late and when we think about our process when we brought scenario four back to the community and then heard community feedback we really thought that would make sense and i think what we are we'd even talked about today in our work session is sort of our after action summary we're going to have to the next time around I think move the timelines back a little so that when we hear feedback has to go back to the community again to engage to have that conversation before we make a recommendation so the beech tree

[00:09:49] elementary situation and how it relates in particular to lowering enrollment at Glasgow we're going to again have a more in-depth conversation with the community and come back in January of 2027 with a recommendation and part of that's contingent on we are going to move forward with the Poe AAP Center for the fall of 26 and we want to look at the impact of pulling those students how that impacts the Glasgow enrollment and whether or not that would be sufficient or not because we don't want to engage in a move just to have a move right we want the

[00:10:25] the move to be thoughtful and really helpful in this situation so in a pause the beech tree elementary decision for further review and honestly authentic engagement with the beech tree community and I do believe that's important and dr. Anderson's been very clear that that's essential and again I apologize that that really felt tagged on at the end that was not the intent but I clearly heard it was the impact so we do want to engage because we do want to get it right. And I think as we mentioned in the work session, after 40 years, I think 41 years,

[00:11:02] we'll probably be okay if we make the right decision. I also want to note that the Graham Greenway, Jefferson Village, and Kingsley Commons communities have been looking for some resolution for quite some time. We also can't resolve that at the expense of creating another island for our Kingsley Commons families and children. So there have been some ideas that are really creative that have been thoughtfully brought forward so that's another area where I want to have just one more year at that one and in January 2027 we'll again come forward with

[00:11:39] the recommendation that we hope helps mitigate the Pine Springs Graham Road concerns with those three neighborhoods then there's the cross field to lease corner question where we have 12 students and staff are looking at that about the necessity to make that move or not so that's still in play and I don't know what we'll hear this evening but that will be part of a possible amendment Thursday night the Bryn Mawr Park community three spas north of 395

[00:12:13] is another place where we're going to review and revisit and come back in January 2027 on that as well. So Walney Oaks, Crossfield, Beachtree, Bryn Mawr, Rolling Valley, and Cardinal Forest.

[00:12:30] I think those are the areas as well as the Pine Springs, Graham Road, Jefferson Village, and Kingsley Commons. So those are the areas that likely I'll bring amendments that will be posted Thursday evening with the rationale and depending on what we hear this evening there may be other topics but again the board has been very thoughtful and had a lot of conversation after saturday and appreciate our community input so thank you mr mcdaniel thank you we have 42 pre-registered and walk-in speakers who will address the board this public hearing speakers are allotted two minutes and we ask that you stay within that time limit the timer will start when you begin to speak

[00:13:07] and the timer will sound after two minutes please ensure that your remarks are limited to the the proposed FY2731 CIP or the proposed school boundary adjustments and that your remarks adhere to the school board's expectations for community participation. Included in those expectations are that only one person is allowed at the podium when speaking. Neither adults nor children may accompany a speaker to the podium. Copies of all expectations are available at the back of the auditorium. To assist with the flow of tonight's hearing, please ensure you are following along with the speakers list and are ready to go as soon as your name is called. If you have a hard copy of your testimony, please give it to the clerk. If you're virtual, please turn your camera on when

[00:13:43] you are next in line to speak so that you have, so that you just have to unmute when you are called to speak. If you have electronic copies of your testimony and would like to share it with the board, please email it to communityparticipation at fcps.edu. When your name is called, the clerk will call your name three times before moving on to the next individual on the list. You may find copies of the speaking order in the back of the room or on board docs. We do ask for grace and patience from audience members. We also ask that you hold your applause so that we can keep the hearing flow to ensure that all speakers are heard in timely manner school board members may be taking small breaks but are able to access the hearing throughout the building and we'll be listening to all speakers madam clerk

[00:14:19] please call our first speaker student a student a student a student number one student number one student number one student number two student number two student number two Odessa Jansen good evening my name is Odessa Jansen and I'm

[00:14:56] a rising senior, band kid, and IB diploma candidate at Justice High School. I've been a part of the Beachtree, Glasgow, and Justice Pyramid for around 10 years. When I first found out about the boundary changes, I was distraught. What would happen to my education? The IB diploma process has been extremely exhausting, and when I found out that I was suddenly going to be zoned for Falls Church High School, a school with no IB program, I was furious. All my hard work, the hours of tears and frustration put into my extended essay a 4,000 word research essay and other IB classes would all be for nothing my entire college plan would be thrown off track almost all my classes are two-year courses courses that i've

[00:15:32] already put hours of notes and focus into hours of struggle and frustration into exams i'm only taking my senior year to be an IB learner you are supposed to be caring open-minded balanced and reflective i've learned these traits not only from my community and family but through band i started band in fifth grade and never stopped after that i play the clarinet and playing an instrument teaches you to be a risk taker an inquirer and a thinker I'm now a part of the Justice High School wind ensemble the best concert band in the whole state and the marching band I'm also the seventh best clarinet player in district 10 and have an all-state audition none of this which none of which would be possible if it weren't for mr. Sherrick at Glasgow middle school and

[00:16:09] mr. Thomas at Justice High School I'm a part of marching band leadership my summer ends on July 28th to start making plans to welcome new marchers the The Justice Marching Band has taught me patience, discipline, leadership, and honesty. When teaching a new marcher to march, you have to be firm, correct mistakes, and at times be their teacher rather than their classmate.

[00:16:27] If I go to Falls Church, you are taking away my opportunities to grow and learn as a mentor and taking me away from my support system of like-minded people and from musical opportunities that being a part of a high-level band can give me. The IB Diploma isn't just a piece of paper, it's a door of opportunities waiting to be opened by education-driven students like me.

[00:16:46] sympathy, honesty. As an IB learner, this is what our TOK classes push us to learn, and I would advise you to learn the same. Listen to your students, not your statistics. Thank you. William, sorry, Willow Rosenthal. Hello, my name is Willow Rosenthal, and I'm currently a junior at Justice High School in the IB program. I'm a captain of the field hockey team, a varsity lacrosse player.

[00:17:16] I'm also a national honor society and science honor society. I'm invested in justice in its community. Last week, I was told by my parents about the boundary changes, which included me going to Falls Church High School. How could this even be a scenario for you to propose without talking to my parents or the kids who this will impact? Dr. Reed, one of your key policies is equitable program access. If I'm removed from my IB program to go to an AP school, how's that equitable? How is this remotely fair for a junior who's getting ready to apply to college? This is the last thing that I and my fellow students need to be worrying about right now. My younger sister will also be impacted by this decision. She is currently in eighth grade at Glasgow and all she talks about is playing lacrosse with me next year at Justice. Just like me my

[00:17:54] sister's friends are kids that she has known since elementary school. Pulling us away from all of our friends to attend another high school would be devastating. We can all agree that the middle school and high school years are hard on social and emotional well-being. Splitting up friendships and supportive communities and systems are problematic. How you be able to solve that in your plan you simply can't. I'm proud to attend and want to graduate from Justice in 2027. I want to see my sister in the hallways at Justice and be her teammate. Please don't take that away from me reconsider your decision-making I know this is an easy process but you have to think through all the consequences of your actions we aren't just lines on a map we are kids and families who just want to go to

[00:18:30] school the right school thank you Jasmine Jensen hi my name is Jasmine Jensen I'm a rising eighth grader at Glasgow middle school and what I don't get are these boundary rules because I'm an IB student and I have been for seven years and if I go to Poe middle school that will disrupt my learning because non IB schools do it differently than IB schools and there will be a lot of opportunities I will miss if I don't do the IB diploma like scholarships and

[00:19:09] good jobs why do you only care about the data points and not students education like I guess it's better for you but it's not for people in Beech Street Glasgow justice pyramid one thing that I hate about this new rule is that if I go to Poe then all my friendships might end and I have lost friends before but if I lose these ones I'll be distraught and my friends will be too like what am I supposed to say because it's not my fault that I might be changing schools like not only that but I will lose my chances and cool stuff like I'm in band and I love my band teacher and I don't want to lose that experience but another thing is that is another thing I don't get is why is that

[00:19:48] we are only addressing the problem now about overcrowding at my school because it's not it's not actually a problem anymore but it was a few years ago that doesn't make sense at all. Another thing is that I have to drive to school now. Sometimes, some days it will be impossible for me to be picked up because my parents just can't pause their work because it's important to. These are my reasons, these are my reasons why I think this rule is bad.

[00:20:12] Thank you for listening. Caroline Allison. Hello, my name is Caroline Allison and I'm a junior at Justice High School. While I will not be changing schools in this boundary proposal, my closest friends will be. Beach Street is a title one elementary school and most families and students are unaware of this change because language or financial barriers. I'm here to speak on behalf of my friends, my sister's friends, and all the students who are unable to be here. Breaking up a school community as Smalls Beach Street is detrimental to student success. While we've all

[00:20:50] made other friends and widened our circles, our closest relationships are with our Beach Street friends. We survived COVID together with drive-by birthday parties and Zoom lunches, only to be torn apart now by a boundary change. The kids and grades behind us will lose their closest relationships even sooner right when they need them most on their way to middle school for the kids in middle and high school who are affected by this change now it's not simply a matter of having a waiver approved or not they'll have to figure out transportation to stay at school and to add to the injustice the students who have a waiver under Virginia law are considered transfer students and will be ineligible to participate in sports for a year this boundary proposal is going to make students choose between the sports

[00:21:28] they've been playing for years with the opportunity for college scholarships and and being able to get to school easy or going to school with their friends. My best friend and I have been on the rowing team together our entire high school career. Falls Church High School, where she would be rezoned to, doesn't even offer rowing, so no matter what she does, it seems she'll have to give up her dream to go D1, which doesn't sound fair and equitable to me.

[00:21:49] We've gotten a lot of public comment from many people around the county, but please note how not a single one of our parents so much has mentioned property values changing or how difficult it would be to sell their house. We're asking to be kept in a Title I school for the community and connections, not for financial reasons.

[00:22:05] I understand that this is a complex process and someone will be unhappy, but I don't understand why a school as small as Beech Street has to be split at all, much less double split. The goal is to eliminate split feeders and strengthen peer continuity. Thank you. Lorelei Freel.

[00:22:27] Good evening. My name is Lorelei Freel, and I'm a junior at Justice High School in the IB program and on the Justice Crew team. IB is a big commitment. I'm in my first year of two-year IB classes. While it's stressful, I'm learning things I'm truly interested in. Justice alumni in our neighborhood told me how IB has prepared them for college classes. I had my speech, and I was going to talk about IB and my neighborhood and how no transportation affects equity, especially at Justice, where there are

[00:23:04] only 52 senior parking spots, and it costs $250, but I'll skip to the end. Dr. Reed said, if you walk by an inequity, you lose the moral authority to lead. This was a standard you set. You don't have a choice, or you have a choice.

[00:23:22] Don't walk by this inequity. And make sure not to do that for any other community affected by these boundary changes. Now that you've made your decision, I want to thank you for not walking by this inequity to the Beach Street community this year. But for students affected by these boundary changes, make sure to provide transportation so that equity can be a countywide thing.

[00:23:41] provide real access not just permission without a way to get there please choose the moral authority to lead and i'll see you next january and november of 2027 because i will be able to vote then and so will all of my friends so thank you daphne jenkins da costa daphne jenkins da

[00:24:07] costa daphne jenkins da costa kimberly adams good evening members of the board superintendent reed my name is kimberly adams and i'm here tonight representing the frustrated staff students and families of centerville high school we are not asking for a new project we are asking for a finished one centerville has been on the cip since before 2019 and was included in the 2021 bond

[00:24:43] referendum for planning and design after meetings in 2022 outlining the design phase and community input and then a meeting presenting the finished initial design plan in september of 2022 our community was told that construction would begin in 2025. however our school was not on the the 2023 bond for construction, and several design phases were not done in conjunction with the community during 2023 and 2024, as the timeline outlined.

[00:25:10] All of this meant that we could not be on the actual construction schedule until after 2025, and especially since we were still listed as planning and design and not construction on this most recent bond. The next school bond is 2027. This CIP says that we are not slated for construction until 2028, so we are faced with a three-year further delay after over three years of being told that we shouldn't be able to get anything replaced or remodeled because this renovation was coming. We recognize and appreciate the superintendent having met with us in November this past year and that the acquisition of a new high

[00:25:47] school will relieve some of the overcrowding at our school. However, capacity is not the same as condition. Our new school nearby will not fix the failing infrastructure of Centerville High School where mold is currently being treated in a variety of locations, an aging HVAC system, and physical decay such as bathroom facilities, which are regularly overflowing.

[00:26:10] As for learning spaces, our classrooms are no longer state-of-the-art. Our students have spent years working in a facility that does not reflect the excellence we expect from Fairfax County Public Schools. So tonight I call on this board to provide a construction start date that is sooner than 2028 and start treating this project like the emergency that louise epstein louise epstein

[00:26:41] louise epstein utam karkai utam karkai utam karkai patty karshner patty karshner patty karshner

[00:27:06] amy shots amy shots amy shots tatiana gregory good evening um my name is tatiana gregory and i I have two students that are in Glasgow, currently, and they're both in advanced academic program in IB school, and if this ban were accepted, they will have to go to homes that

[00:27:45] doesn't have their full ACP program. That will disrupt their, like, that's their plans. Like, my son wants to go to Jefferson High School and he's taking the classes and he's taking all AAP classes that he needs to take in order to apply there. So that will completely disrupt his plans.

[00:28:10] Thank you for listening. Leslie Lampton. Good evening. My name is Leslie Lampton and I'm here tonight to voice my opposition to the boundary recommendations for Justice Annandale and Falls Church High School. While this process was framed as a path toward equity the data suggests we are simply shifting overcrowding from one overburdened school to another without proper regard for the

[00:28:50] academic stability of our most vulnerable students. I spent time over the past few days reviewing the proposed maps and I couldn't ignore the disconcerting message being sent by these recommendations. With these proposed changes six schools will now be over 100 capacity.

[00:29:05] five of these changes alleviate overcrowding at neighboring schools, that is not the case for Falls Church High School. After looking through the school profiles, I cannot help but assume that our diverse vulnerable community is being taken advantage of. In early iterations of this boundary plan, other neighborhoods were recommended to move to Falls Church High School, but because of overwhelming neighborhood blowbacks and some rather nasty comments about our school, those changes were reversed. This final boundary solution feels like a change made to pacify those previous dissenters with the presumption that this community will not fight back.

[00:29:40] The current proposal no longer addresses the original premise of the boundary review process, namely to eliminate split feeders and overcrowding. The plan to move 101 students from Justice to False Church and another 60 to Annandale High School is a prime example of failing logic.

[00:29:55] False Church is already operating at a 109% capacity, and this proposed shift will drive it to a staggering 114%, the highest in the county. How can we justify cramming more students into a school where 61% of the student body is already economically disadvantaged?

[00:30:14] Despite the hard work of the teachers, this is a school where both math and English scores fall below the state average according to VOD, Virginia Department of Education data. While Falls Church is not considered a Title I school, five of the six feeder elementary schools are.

[00:30:32] Time's up. Thank you. I appreciate it. Ed Phillips. Ed Phillips. Good evening.

[00:30:50] speaking from the Special Committee on Schools of the Great Falls Citizens Association. My topic is on the forecasting methodology. As you get beyond the two-year point, getting toward the five-year projections, there are two areas, in my view, that need improvement.

[00:31:08] First is how housing developments are considered and forecast, and the second is how transfer students impact projections and planning. I'm only going to address the first topic. As described in the CIP, the current methodology only considers developments, apartments, houses that are under constructions.

[00:31:30] Most of the developments that we have observed are done in less than two years in the Reston, Herndon, Centerville, Chantilly areas. That means the three to five-year projections are missing students coming from the permitted and planned developments in the pipeline.

[00:31:48] Applying a county-wide factor in the three- to five-year range to the forecast will under-project and over-project in some areas. The more precise approach it would be to apply some planning factor of those activities that are planned or permitted by pyramid, not county-wide, but look into each pyramid and where are the projections, what's in the pipeline.

[00:32:19] One of the clearest at publishing and auditing enrollment forecast accuracy, which drives CIPC planning, is Montgomery Public Schools. Thank you for your time. Anahita. Anahita. Anahita. Pranav Chowdhury.

[00:32:56] Good evening, everyone. My name is Pranav, and I served as the student rep to this board back when dinosaurs roamed the earth from 2021 to 2022. And I am out here tonight to express concern over this CIP's failure to consider these three critical pages.

[00:33:15] At the elementary, middle, and high school level, there's this beautiful page that says capacity utilization without modulars. For example, if you look at the Lewis Pyramid at the elementary school level, Forestdale Elementary School is projected to be at 140% capacity before it's modular.

[00:33:33] Meanwhile, it is immediately adjacent to Garfield Elementary, which is going to be at 69%. About half of Forestdale's body lives closer to Garfield than to their own zoned school, which is bursting at the seams. So our upcoming CIP should include long-term solutions for these communities.

[00:33:52] That either includes permanent capacity enhancements, consideration at the next five-year boundary review, or consideration in the next renovation queue when it is created. For years, modulars have been used as a band-aid solution that have not addressed the long-term underlying overcrowding.

[00:34:09] That's particularly concerning at the elementary schools in two pyramids, the Justice Pyramid and the Edison Pyramid, where there is no surplus capacity. There are more elementary school students than there are permanent elementary school spots because we have not done the permanent capacity enhancements that need to be considered.

[00:34:26] I ask that that also be a subject of consideration for future bond referendums when there are elementary schools considered in areas that do not have capacity deficits, while there are substantial capacity deficits before factoring in modulars in several of these pyramids. Thank you so much.

[00:34:45] Brigitte Murf. Hi, I'm Birgit Murf, and after hearing from Dr. Reed this evening, I'm surprised, but for the first time positively.

[00:35:07] I want to now say thank you for hearing our community from Jefferson Village and Greenway Downs in the Providence District of Falls Church. It seems like I do not need to read my original statement as a parent of a 7th grader, 5th grader, and rising kindergartner living in the Pine Spring Attendance Island, Though I will submit it originally to the board by email because my printer died, but mostly because my trust in our FCPS leadership and in particular my board representative, Mr. Fritch, has eroded over the course of this process.

[00:35:37] While I'm disappointed that there was not a solution presented for Fall 2026, we genuinely appreciate your willingness to respond to your feedback and we welcome the opportunity to participate in supporting thoughtful solutions that support all involved parties in Jefferson Village and Greenway Downs.

[00:35:55] We hope Impending Solutions will continue to strive to meet the stated objectives of this project and we want to make another plea to resolve the fractured nature of our community and unite jefferson village and greenway downs a long way a long awaited desire of our neighborhood thank you for your willingness to hear our feedback and hope you will consider working with us starting immediately as you review additional scenarios we want to be a positive part of the solution and if there's any chance that this could happen for fall 2026 we'd love to help

[00:36:23] thank you fatima akram thank you again for the opportunity to speak i provided you all with aerial street and boundary maps because the impact of this proposal cannot be fully understood otherwise the proposed redistricting separates our spa from surrounding spas and instead groups us across fairfax county parkway a four-lane heavily trafficked highway that acts as a major physical

[00:37:03] barrier the community impact would be significant separating established sports teams scouting groups and neighborhood connections schools are strongest when they reflect the communities they serve and Crossfield currently does exactly that. Under School Board Policy 8130 several guiding principles support keeping our community intact. First, process equity. Families were actively engaged throughout this process and reviewed every scenario. We did not speak out because all four preserved community all four preserved community integrity. This final proposal was introduced late and differ substantially from what families had a meaningful opportunity to engage with. Second, proximity and neighborhood

[00:37:40] integrity policy 8130 prioritizes contiguous attendance zones and preserving neighborhood groupings to prevent attendance islands this proposal does the opposite separating our SPA from its neighbors and placing it across a major highway third enrollment and capacity this this proposal affects just 12 students and does not meaningfully impact capacity the split feeder can be eliminated by keeping these students at Crossfield and allowing them to follow a singer single pathway to Crossfield Carson and Oakton these are not dots on a map they are children who walk the same sidewalks wear the same jerseys and grow up together as dr reed said in the january 8th meeting we shouldn't do this

[00:38:18] just for a data point if it doesn't work better for our families and this proposal does not the cross crossfield community's request is simple keep spa 3521 at crossfield amend the superintendent's final recommendation to remove the reassignment of sp 3521 from crossfield to lease corner thank you ali akram superintendent reed respected board members my name is ali akram and my journey to this podium actually began in 2016 when our

[00:38:57] first child was born one of the dreams my wife and i had for our children back then was to provide them with something we did not have and deeply missed ourselves the opportunity to grow with a sense of community familiarity and stability by completing our elementary education at the same school where we started with that in mind we invested in fairfax county fully expecting our children to grow with their wonderful neighbors i'm here tonight from spa 3521 which is slated to be redirected from Crossfield to Lee's corner next year setting aside the surprising way this change was announced the shortened timeline for feedback and engagement as well as the fact that the recommendation does not align with SP

[00:39:32] FCPS his own policy 8130 I am appealing to you simply as a parent my children are in first and third grade critical years in their development at this age stability is key as educators you already know that school disruptions in the early years are associated with increased anxiety behavior challenges and declines in academic achievement and as a parent as any parent knows young children depend on predictability and routine familiar classrooms trusted teachers and established friendships that make them feel safe enough to learn take risks and grow this proposal will disrupt that stability and introduce

[00:40:08] unnecessary emotional and developmental hurdles I urge and I challenge you to view this as parents and leaders who understand the impacts of these changes on our youth and the solution is simple allow the currently enrolled first and fourth grade students to complete elementary school where they started and continue on with the Carson Oakton track just as you have already done for the fifth and sixth graders at SPA 3521 show us that this board values child development and long term and the long-term well-being of its students and that it strives to follow its own guidelines set forth in the aforementioned policy our story is not unique and this is not just about a school it's a long-term plan not unlike the boundary review it's an investment it's a

[00:40:48] community it represents stability familiarity and for some of us a dream. Anna Ricklin. Good evening my name is Anna Ricklin and I live in the Providence District. I have a kindergartner and a second grader in Graham Road Elementary School and I really commend this process updating boundaries that have been languishing for 40 years and modernizing them is so important for our entire

[00:41:26] school district. Our community of Jefferson Village and Greenway Downs tracks to three different elementary schools. I encourage you to look at the map if you haven't recently looked at it. Graham Road Elementary, Pine Spring, and Timber Lane. I would say the bifurcation, but it's actually the trifurcation of our neighborhood, has been an issue for many years. You make friends with other families at the park, but they go to a different elementary school. You look to connect with your neighbors, such as Ms. Murph, who just spoke, and they go to a different school. She lives directly behind my house. I looked up the history of Graham Road Elementary School. It was built by developer who built our neighborhood yet at least half of the neighborhood no

[00:42:03] longer goes there and the street the boundaries in our neighborhood make no sense a large block of neighbors who live behind me go to pine spring as I said as an example an attendance island with no connection to the rest of the neighborhoods who go to pine spring scenario four brought our neighborhood together and would have supported neighborhood and community cohesion I came to a community meeting in the fall and spoke with the superintendent and express my support for that scenario and to the planning team and as is usually the case with good ideas you may not have heard from many people about their support because they thought it was a good outcome they didn't think they

[00:42:40] needed to come and speak against it but I didn't talk to a single neighbor who didn't think that this was a great idea to bring us all together in Graham Road even if they had to change schools then without explanation the final recommendations eliminated that change and now I'm very happy to hear we're on the next steps list I have two requests one to get a clear explanation about why we were removed and to to request that the planning team revisit potential changes to Graham Road for the coming year and I'm glad to see that's

[00:43:08] happening Riley Dilland good evening I am the parent of a current and future student in the Jefferson Village Greenway Downs neighborhood I'm here tonight because I am disappointed not only in the proposal before you but in how this unfolded in the last hour for over a year families were told this boundary review would be guided by clear data-driven goals. Every metric the study was designed to address our neighborhood should have been a priority. In less than

[00:43:48] a square mile our children are assigned to four elementary schools operating over capacity. Our neighborhood will remain as four separate attendance islands. Families will continue to cross Lee Highway and Arlington Boulevard to get to their school. What makes this especially difficult to accept is that until this version not a single scenario suggested our neighborhood would be excluded. We are asking for you to advocate for transparency and fairness and asking you to vote no for the current proposal in return to scenario four. Scenario four was the last version the public could meaningfully provide feedback. It kept our neighborhood together, addressed the goals you set forth as it was designed to do. Instead, an 11th hour change removed our community without time

[00:44:28] for feedback, analysis, or any engagement. After 16 months, this is no small adjustment. This is a fundamental break in the process. I want to be clear about what we are asking for and more so what we are not asking for. While other neighborhoods are aggressively protesting their kids and house values being aligned to Falls Church Pyramid High School, we are asking the opposite. We are asking for our children to attend school with their neighbors. We are asking to strengthen our community ties. We are asking to invest our time, our energy, our resources into neighborhood schools.

[00:45:01] We are not asking for advantage. We are not asking to leave our neighbors. We deserve proximity to our schools. We deserve the opportunity to build community and our children's future deserves to be more than a non-committal footnote in an overview. Megan Naforas. Megan Naforas. Megan Naforas.

[00:45:35] Lindsay Latham. Lindsay Latham. Lindsay Latham. Sivasinkar Subraman. Good evening board members.

[00:45:58] I'm here today tonight representing all the families affected by the rezoning recommendation SPA 3521. We respectfully request that this board withdraw this recommendation. The rezoning recommendation affects a group of 12 kids attending the Crossfield Elementary. Crossfield Elementary is not merely a school for our children, it is their second home.

[00:46:17] Our students have cultivated meaningful friendship, participated actively in Crossfield sports team, Girl Scout troops, and benefited from a remarkable neighborhood network where parents collectively ensure safety of kids as they walk home together. Our communities have invested countless hours building this robust parent organization and this rezoning decision effectively erases years of careful community building by our families. We propose this solution to maintain the current Carson Oakton assignment rather than fragmenting our community to Lee's Corner. By maintaining the current assignment all seven to twelve students will be benefited by remaining with their

[00:46:53] established peer groups and community connections. We have carefully reviewed the justification presented by the board and frankly nothing at first the cross field elementary has ample capacity this rezoning results no overcrowding issues whatsoever second we are discussing about only about 12 students here so this is a minimum number which creates zero capacity concern for any facility third the transportation logistic present no obstacle as well the fourth and perhaps more importantly that our students need not cross the Fairfax County Parkway

[00:47:29] keeping our neighborhood cohesive from both transportation safety and community integrity perspectives. Furthermore, this proposal directly contradicts the policy 8.130, which explicitly emphasizes neighborhood grouping and preventing attendance islands. The very policy this board has established to protect the community cohesion is being violated by this recommendation. We respectfully urge the board to withdraw the decision. Keep our families together. Our children deserve better than the decision made in Haste. Thanks for your cooperation.

[00:48:26] Hi, good evening. Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Yes, you can keep going. Okay. Hi, good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Barbara McBrayer and I'm speaking on behalf of Cardinal Forest Condominium Unit Owners Association on behalf of the residents.

[00:48:45] I'm here today because we are very concerned and upset about the possibility of having increased student size at Cardinal Forest Elementary. One of the main several reasons is our community is in direct and immediate adjacent to Cardinal Forest Elementary. We are struggling right now with traffic and and safety concerns as far as the young children coming out and it's more the issue is more at and the afternoon at dismissal times when the children are getting out of school

[00:49:22] walking down the sidewalks um it cardinal forest is located on um forrester boulevard and our community is on royal ridge so it's an intersection it's a very small neighborhood street with a lot of traffic with a lot of children and with the increased amount of kids that it's being proposed it's gonna be you know we don't want a child hit we don't want you know these are young children elementary school they're small and with the amount of traffic on the road we're just so worried that something bad's

[00:49:59] gonna happen so we have been raising this alarm for multiple years sorry so like I said it's mainly in dismissal time when you have parents coming to picking up the students you know they park on the side of the street they park wherever our residents are trying to get in and out of our community you know the kiss and ride sometimes most the time blocks are entrances from Forrester to

[00:50:33] Royal Ridge and you know just put in you know a recipe for disaster when you have young children. Molly Sullivan, Molly Sullivan, Molly Sullivan, Kellen Pender, Kellen Pender, Kellen Pender, Bolipa Petruma, Bolipa Petruma, Bolipa Petruma,

[00:51:09] Bolipa Petruma, Carson Kane. Good evening Board and Superintendent. I'm here tonight to reiterate the concerns about Cardinal Forest and being over capacity.

[00:51:34] Looking at the current proposal, it appears that it's the only elementary school that's going from over capacity to further over capacity based on the current numbers this is a very simple math problem I understand there's a lot of complexities in these proposals and not everything can be achieved but this seems like a particularly big issue and all of the other elementary schools are either shrinking capacity below 100% already below a hundred percent based on the proposed to Cardinal Forrest we'd be better served by not being involved in and the very necessary parent load balancing between Keen Mill Elementary and White Oaks.

[00:52:14] I'm pleased to hear that the current proposal for Cardinal Forest is under reconsideration, but I would ask the Board to turn down any reboundering for Cardinal Forest that increases its capacity beyond its current excessive load of students.

[00:52:30] Additionally, I'd like to wait to hear from the Board. I'd like to know when to hear from the board what the new proposal would be if there is going to be a change, what kind of public comment period there will be, what kind of decision timeline there will be, because some of this information seemed to change very quickly in the last week, and I don't want it to be something where we miss out on, you know, opportunity for future comment.

[00:53:08] Michelle Boyd. Good evening. My name is Michelle Boyd, and I'm here to voice my concerns with the superintendent's proposal to change SPA 3521's elementary school from Crossville to Lease Corner.

[00:53:24] I have been a proud resident of Fairfax County for over 14 years. My husband and I bought our home based on the school districts. When the boundary review was initiated, we were pleased with the iterative process and the opportunities for community feedback. To say that we were blindsided by the 11th hour proposal to change our elementary school when it had never been considered in the previous scenarios is an understatement.

[00:53:44] am the mother of three children at Crossfield Elementary. My children are very much integrated in the Crossfield community, participating in Girl Scouts, sports activities, green team activities. They ride the school bus with their neighbors. After school they can safely ride their scooters to work on school assignments with their classmates in the community. Our parks and playgrounds are within walking distance with our neighbors. Additionally, one of my daughters is part of the special education program at Crossfield. Changing our elementary school would be exceptionally disruptive and fracture our community. If our children were to be redistricted to Lee's Corner, they would be

[00:54:21] separated by their peers by Fairfax County Parkway instead of being a short walk from their Crossfield peers. I ask for the board to reconsider and allow our children to remain at Crossfield. Along with others in my neighborhood, I would recommend the board adopt one of the earlier proposals allowing us to continue at Crossfield and feed into the pyramid of Rachel Carson Middle School and Oakton High School to eliminate a split feeder and maintain community cohesion. This recommendation does not impact transportation and will not significantly affect the student population at any of these pyramid schools. Considering the small size of our SPA, this is an easy decision that will genuinely have a valuable impact on our neighborhood and our children. Thank

[00:54:58] you. Theresa Cano. Hi, my name is Theresa Cano and I'm a mom of a child at Glasgow and a child of Justice who both went to Belvedere Elementary School and we have formed very strong family relationships through the years. I was also the PTA president for Belvedere for two years running and have learned a lot about how the Justice Pyramid runs. The new scenario, which was brought up on January 7th, violates both

[00:55:36] Virginia Code and FCPS policies. Specifically, the last zone was added without any community engagement and there were no meetings that involved the schools within the Justice Pyramid. The changes specifically affect the neighborhoods right behind Belvedere Elementary School.

[00:55:58] And in fact, the new plan also has Belvedere in the new Holmes Annandale change. FCS policy it violates is that you're now forming an attendance island within a community that has been within the Belvedere chain and a neighborhood that will be split.

[00:56:18] One goal of the rezoning is to help eliminate splitter schools. Belvedere was not a splitter school and now under new scenario for it will become one. Now a specific zone, three zones will now go to Holmes and Annandale. This not only breaks up a neighborhood but also sends students from an AAP center to a non-AAP middle school. Holmes is not an AAP middle school and that's where the children from the AAP center will be sent. It also breaks up an IB pyramid. Belvedere, Glasgow and Justice is one of two

[00:56:51] ib pyramids within fairfax county and now that pyramid will be split a coherent pyramid creates less transition shock higher expectations and a sense of belonging the ib continuum ensures access for multilingual learners students from low-income families and first generation college bound students this population is the foundation of our amazing title one justice high school and this will be disrupted. Lastly, I would like to talk about capacity.

[00:57:19] Hassan Abdiwad. Hassan Abdiwad. Hassan Abdiwad. Chris Ormarad. Chris Ormarad.

[00:57:47] Chris Ormarad. Julie Sprosser. Good evening, Superintendent Reed, members of the Board. Thank you so much for hearing my testimony today. First, from my heart, thank you for listening to the Beachtree community and reconsidering how this proposal might end up I am here as a concerned parent of a fifth grader and a member of the beech tree elementary community for the past two years I have followed this process attended meetings and provided feedback in good faith

[00:58:25] believing this process was transparent and valued community input in that time the county explored solutions but never proposed splitting beech tree community into different feeder patterns that options seem to appear suddenly and before before the holidays with little time for families to respond unlike other communities that had months to weigh in. This lack of transparency is especially troubling especially as it creates an attendance island contrary to county priorities. Beachtree is a small close-knit school just two fifth grade classes who began elementary school during COVID together. My daughter had to work to rebuild community socially and emotionally and these kids have grown up together through sports, scouts, neighborhood life, splitting them apart

[00:59:02] now fractures a community that took years to build and creates ample and unnecessary anxiety as they start a new chapter in middle school. Timing feels really disruptive. Students have been planning all year for Glasgow and just this month met with school representatives, selected their sixth grade electives, have been talking to older friends about the school clubs, the theater program, band, their electives, their activities, and changing course now midway through the school year is just not fair to the students or families in the process they go through to get ready for middle school. There's also a serious concern people have mentioned about AAP. Glasgow was a long-established AAP center with a mature program that strengthened over time. Beech Tree's AAP students would be part of an inaugural class of a new and untested program. I

[00:59:41] respectfully urge the board to reconsider the proposal, provide equitable and transparent opportunities for community feedback, and keep the Beachtree community together in the Justice High School Pyramid. Thank you. Valentina Dang. Hi, my name is Valentina Dang. I'm speaking about Fair Hill Elementary School, which is currently zoned for Falls Church High School. If you were to look at a boundary map, you would see what Falls Church High School

[01:00:19] looks like. You'd see that it looks kind of like the state of Oklahoma. There's a blob in the center and then there's an arm that sticks out. Fairhill Elementary School is in that sticking out arm. I'm coming to speak to you guys today because we're requesting to have us move to one of the three high schools that is closer to our elementary school. There are three high schools that are closer to ours. People that are in Fairhill, some people could drive as much as 25 minutes in rush hour traffic to get to Falls Church High School. In addition, our community is in Vienna.

[01:00:55] It's not in Falls Church. When my kids go to activities, it's always in Vienna. So when they go to soccer, they go to Vienna Youth Soccer. I don't even know the name of the Falls Church Youth Soccer League. Maybe that's the name of it. When my kids go to the pool, they go to the Vienna pool.

[01:01:10] And so when they go to these activities, they are always sort of on the outside because these kids see each other every day at school. My kids only see the soccer kids during soccer season. Then they're on the outside. They're on the fringes. Same thing with the pool. see each other during pool season they get close to each other and then they don't see them all year they get kicked out again so that's the second reason first of all shorter commute second of all our community is vienna and the third one is the utilization i had the pleasure of meeting with michelle reid and she pointed out that utilization is a really important factor in making the

[01:01:48] divisions and she we saw on under scenario four Madison High School is at 89% utilization uh Madison High School does not have any planned developments and it would only be at a hundred percent if you move to Falls Church High School or Fair Hill Elementary School over to Madison High School thank you Amy Eckert good evening I'm here to ask you guys as the school board members

[01:02:25] to vote in favor of the superintendent's recommendations to review in the future the boundary decision for the gunston halley laurel hill and lorton station elementary school neighborhoods as you know the consulting firm that was hired to do the boundary review recommended gunston elementary school as the school to resolve the hagel circle attendance island island but then due to community voices fcps proposed to change that to lorton station elementary school i know that lorton station elementary school would welcome those students from hagel circle but what it cost. Please take the time to review the data, look at the time on the bus, not just the travel distance, compare the class sizes, examine how the

[01:03:04] students are the needs of the students and how the schools use their facilities to include how many students require math and reading intervention, as well as multilingual and special education small groups. Please do your due diligence to ensure that the education and learning environment of the students from Hagel Circle and the receiving schools are not compromised. Let the facts and the data to support the decision, not just the louder voices.

[01:03:30] The students from the quieter communities with less resources deserve the best too. They deserve equitable access to excellence and opportunities in alignment with the FCPS 2023-2030 strategic plan. Thank you.

[01:03:48] - Rebecca Herrera. - Hi, I'm speaking, I spoke on Saturday but I'm gonna speak for my daughter and I'm talking on what everyone has said between like middle school and high school.

[01:04:03] I'm asking you to please keep the kids in middle school and high school together as they already have, especially high school, which is my daughter's rising ninth grader, to keep Catherine Johnson Middle School going into Fairfax High instead of splitting them between Oakton, Chantilly High and Fairfax because you're splitting all the kids in three different schools.

[01:04:24] And the kids that will be going into Chantilly is going to be at 106% capacity compared to what you would have in Fairfax High. And also all the kids that already have their future planned out as mine, you know, with going to dance and band, it will be a disruption.

[01:04:40] As she has played before and has merged from Fairfax High and has been planning to go to Fairfax High. I have a condo in the community where it was Fairfax High and all of a sudden it's changed in scenario four to go to Chantilly. And the prior scenario one, two, and three, there was no change. It was all Katherine Johnson going to Fairfax High, and now it's not.

[01:04:59] And she's really, my daughter is devastated. I'm devastated. I mean, she's, I don't even know where my daughter's going to go in the fall at this point because it's constantly changing. And I just want to, you know, keep the kids from Katherine Johnson and the same, you know, going to Fairfax High because that's what was, you know, scenario one, two, and three.

[01:05:18] And all of a sudden, Ford's changed, and it's not sitting well with me or, you know, the peers that she's been, you know, growing up with. That's all I have to say. I just want to, you know, you guys can hold off on high school, especially with all the changes in high schools, a new high school opening up.

[01:05:36] I think high school boundary changes should be on hold at least for another year or two because there's going to be a lot of changes, and we don't know what's going to happen at this point. David Hardison.

[01:05:54] Good evening. I have five observations tonight. First, it's disheartening to see the CIP continue to allocate funds to a Dunn-Loring Elementary. Many of you acknowledge, at least privately, that this school isn't needed.

[01:06:12] It's surrounded by under-enrolled elementary schools and a textbook example of wasteful spending. Second, it's surprising that the CIP continues to refer to an expansion of Centerville High to 3,000 seats, given the 2,000-plus seats now expected at Western and the hundreds of vacant seats at Herndon.

[01:06:31] Surely this needs to be revisited. Third, the CIP identifies a significantly larger program capacity for Kilmer Middle than the capacity just used for purposes of the boundary study. Kilmer's low capacity was a key driver for moving so many kids from the Marshall Pyramid to the Madison Pyramid.

[01:06:50] The larger capacity in the CIP calls the rationale for these boundary changes into question. Fourth, there appears to be no urgency to create a new renovation queue. McLean High has been overcrowded for over a decade, and Ms. Lady has called it an eyesore.

[01:07:07] While I welcome her empathy, the board's torpor does not go unnoticed when it comes to letting the oldest high schools from the 50s know when they might expect to receive some resources. Last, I just want to offer a different perspective on the Greenway Downs Jefferson Village situation and some of the speakers tonight.

[01:07:25] I think Dr. Reed is doing exactly the right thing by taking another year to study this. Scenario four was deeply problematic and created a brand new attendance island that would have moved kids at Kingsley Commons, not represented here tonight, longer distances across Route 29 to Timber Lane.

[01:07:45] That wasn't ready for prime time, so it's good to step back and take another look at other solutions that would consolidate Jefferson Village and Greenway Downs at one school. Thank you for your time. George Becerra.

[01:08:01] This will be quick. I'm here to talk about the CIP tonight concerning Centerville High School.

[01:08:17] First of all, thank you, Dr. Reed, for invitation I made to you on behalf of the Sanneville PTSA when you came over to Sanneville. Twofolded, I knew that was going to be a battle. I really don't invite superintendents for CIP at one school, but I knew the politics behind it, so I really appreciate you immediately saying yes.

[01:08:35] Your counterpart did not, or did say yes, then said no. That says the message of your character. On top of that, with the Sanneville High School and all I'm sure your joint board facilities committee, whatever it's called, a suggestion. How about bring that as a topic? How about put it on there? If you need the chairs to talk, Chairman McKay and Chair Anderson, put that as a topic on there to have that discussion.

[01:09:01] And on top of that, also some, I've always said before here that I know how that Taj Mahal looks over here. It looks like freshman ball versus varsity ball. Why don't you have some of the meetings at Gatehouse? Why aren't the meetings public? Why wasn't the last one a public meeting where Mr. McDaniel and Ms. Marion, you guys got chewed out.

[01:09:22] It was very disrespectful by Supervisor Behrman, but nothing said about that. You do need to fight, and it also needs to be the public. So the committee does see how some folks act or some certain pockets of our community act, especially our elected officials.

[01:09:40] To end on the note, Dr. Reid, I know you've been to Centerville two or three times this year not on positive notes during the daylight hours. Maybe end the year with staff and tell them where you're going with your plan for that school and their work environment, their culture, when they come every day.

[01:09:57] It is atrocious there. I walk those halls a lot as my daughter goes there. If it wasn't for the staff there to give me some amenities to use real facilities, I would not go there. Thank you very much. Mr. McDaniel, that was our last speaker.

[01:10:15] Thank you for sharing your comments today. The board is scheduled to take action on the superintendent's proposed school boundary adjustments at our regular meeting on Thursday, January 22nd, 2026. is scheduled to take action on the fy 2731 cip at our regular meeting on february 12 2026.

[01:10:30] if you wish to provide any feedback to the board before this vote or to submit written copies of your testimony provided today please do so by sending your comments to community participation at fcps.edu thank you for your participation and have a nice day this public hearing of the fairfax county school board is adjourned as of 7 10 p.m

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