Coraggio Consulting
Fairfax County School Board Public Hearing, Thursday, July 16, 2026

Date: Thursday, July 16, 2026
Place: Fairfax County School Board, Virginia
Length: 30m (video)
Official meeting video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPheOVJLK1I
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 2026-10-27. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:02:43] Oliver Laura would you please come up if you are here for the public hearing and a plan to speak

[00:07:05] about Skyview and you have not yet signed up online or with us you have to do so before we start the hearing once miss Dixit drops the gavel nobody can sign up so if you have not signed up

[00:07:16] and you want to speak you need to see us ASAP the Skyview high school boundaries public hearing of

[00:10:16] Fairfax County School Board is called at the order of 6:39 p.m. Good evening and welcome to the second public hearing on the Skyview High School boundaries. On behalf of the entire school board I would like to thank you for sharing your comment with us. This here is being hearing is being broadcasted on Channel 99 and live streamed on YouTube and our website at fcps.edu/livestream at the The July 9, 2026 regular meeting, Dr. Reed presented the Skyview High School Western

[00:10:53] Pyramid Superintendents Preliminary Boundary Recommendation. Tonight's public hearing is an opportunity for the public to provide comments on the approved boundary. We also heard public comments at the public hearing on July 13, 2026.

[00:11:11] We have 12 pre-registered speakers and walk-in who will be addressing the board at this public hearing. Speakers are allotted two minutes and we ask that you stay in that time limit. The timer will start when you begin to speak and the timer will sound after two minutes.

[00:11:30] Please ensure that your remarks are limited to the Skyview High School Western Pyramids Superintendents Preliminary Boundary Recommendation and that your remarks adhere to the school board expectation for community participation. Included in those expectations are that only one person is allowed at the podium when speaking. Neither adults or children may accompany a speaker at the podium. Copies of all the expectations are available at the back of the auditorium. To assist with the flow of tonight's hearing please ensure you're you are following along with the speakers list and you're ready to go as soon as your name is called. If you have a hard copy

[00:12:06] of it if you have a hard copy of your testimony please give it to the clerk. If you are virtual please turn your camera so when you are next in line to speak so that you just have to unmute when you are called to speak if you have electronic copy of your testimony and would like to share it with the board please email it to community community participation at fcps.edu when your name is called the clerk will call your name two 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 the board talks madam deputy clerk please call our first speaker

[00:12:45] Student 1. Student 1. Shrestha Kadam. Student 1, you are muted. Shrestha, you can go ahead and talk, hon.

[00:13:26] Good evening. My name is Shrestha, and I'm an 8th grade student at Rocky Run Middle School, and I'm a resident at the Boulevard Westfields Community. I'm here today to express my concern about the proposed rezoning from Chantilly to Westfield.

[00:13:42] Many of my neighbors have already spoken about student safety, so I would like to share how this change would affect us emotionally and psychologically. As teenagers, we have spent years building friendships with classmates who have always expected to attend the same high school together. Being separated now, just as we're preparing for this major transition, would be deeply unsettling.

[00:14:04] Starting over at a new high school at this stage of our lives will be emotionally difficult for many people. Making new friends is not as easy in high school as we were when we were younger. For my brother, who is an IEP, it would be even more difficult to build new relationships in a new school environment.

[00:14:21] A sudden change like this could make it harder for him to feel comfortable, supported, and confident. Right now, only about 8 to 10 students of different grades from our neighborhood are attending Chantilly High School.

[00:14:39] With this proposed rezoning, that a small group would be split even further between Chantilly and Westfield. We would lose our chance to stay connected with the friends from our own community. and the relationships we have built over the years will become much harder to maintain.

[00:14:54] High school is a critical time for academic success and personal good. Having familiar friends and a strong support system helps students feel confident, included, and be ready to succeed. Floating our neighborhood at this stage would take away that sense of belonging.

[00:15:09] I respectfully ask the school board to reconsider this proposal and keep our neighborhood together. Thank you for listening and for considering the voices of the students who will be directly affected.

[00:15:27] Student two. Student two, you are muted. There you go. Good evening, Dr. Reed, Mrs. Seema Dixit, school board members, and FCPS staff. My name is Ditya, and I'm a student who lives in the boulevards at Westfield. Thank you for giving me an opportunity to speak. I'm asking you to please

[00:16:03] keep Chantilly High School as our assigned high school for our community. This decision directly affects students like me. Our families walked, biked, and drove the proposed routes to Westfield high school the routes include major intersections route 28 and highway ramps when i saw and experienced the route i did not feel safe students may need to travel this route every day for school activities sports and after school programs some students will eventually be new drivers and others

[00:16:37] may walk or bike we should not have to feel worried or unsafe while traveling to and from school. If our community is assigned to Westfield High School, many of us may have no practical option except to depend on the school bus every day for the next four years. That would limit our ability to walk or bike safely and could make transportation more difficult for after-school activities, sports clubs, and late events. Our current route to Chantilly High School is more

[00:17:12] familiar, practical, and safer for our community. It also allows students to continue with their friends, teachers, activities, and school support system. Many families from our community attended the public hearing and shared the same concerns. We hope our voices are not only heard and understood but also addressed in the final decision. Thank you for listening and considering the safety of

[00:17:41] students like me so you're a long good evening my name is joy I'm a resident at Stoneburg at Westfield you have already heard from my neighbors from Boulevard at Westfield about the safety so I wouldn't repeat on that part I respectfully ask the board to reconsider our community assignment back to Rocky Round Middle and Chantilly High today I'm going to talk a little bit more

[00:18:21] around student safety from a different perspective as well as consistency in decision. So each one of you should have the updated map in your hand and during Monday's hearing we appreciate it hearing that there may be an alternative neighborhood route that avoid portions of Route 28. We took another careful look at the routes afterward. While these alternatives may avoid some highway ramps they do not provide students with a transportation environment comparable to to the existing local trail to Rocky Round and Chantilly High.

[00:18:58] The route to Rocky Round and Chantilly follows a continuous neighborhood trail system for nearly the entire trip. It is direct, connected, and specifically designed to support biking. By contrast, the alternative route to Stone Middle and Westfield High is longer, less direct, requires students to transition repeatedly between fragmented trail segments and local streets. Even after avoiding Route 28, students still encounter a more complex transportation environment and a noticeably longer commute. The crash data from VDOT shows that the overall corridor serving the proposed assignment

[00:19:38] contains significantly more locations with injury and fatal crash history than the existing trail to Rocky Run and Chantilly. Moreover, if you look at our Our neighboring community, which is literally in the same situation as ours, they have been resigned back to Rocky Run and Chantilly.

[00:19:58] We both kind of share the same role. We are back to back. So please. Ritika Jani.

[00:20:16] Ritika Jani.

[00:20:41] Gary Ng. Gary Ng. Heather McCain. Heather McCain.

[00:20:57] Sundar Nagarajan. Good evening. My name is Sundar Nagarajan, and I'm a resident of the Bullwards at Westfield.

[00:21:16] Thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak. We also want to thank Ms. Sima Tikshed and Superintendent Dr. Reed and the FCPS team for meeting with us on our community and listening to our concerns.

[00:21:34] I would second whatever the safety concerns that are expressed by the other two speakers. This data reinforces our concern that the proposed road presents a higher safety risk.

[00:21:50] We are not opposed to the school Westfield, but we are definitely requesting that safety of our students take priority over balancing numbers.

[00:22:10] And we have around 87 households that have signed the petition. We respectfully ask the school board to prioritize student safety before the final boundary decision is made and retain Chantley High School as our assigned high school.

[00:22:30] Thank you for your time and consideration. Erica Chang. Hello my name is Erica Chang. I'm a current FCPS parent and math teacher residing in the Sully district. My children's current and projected high school zoning is Westfield High School even after the proposed boundary adjustments. I originally signed up to speak to provide my concerns regarding the impact on access to programming due to a projected 25 percent drop in enrollment for Westfield High School as was listed the

[00:23:09] materials published on July 9th by FCPS and emailed to affected community members. However the The numbers in the updated presentation posted to board docs around 2:00 p.m. today seem to obscure this reality. For example, the projected membership for the 26-27 school year across all of the listed high schools, including Skyview on slide 13, showed an increase across all schools of 515 students from this past year, with a drop in enrollment at Westfield of only 24 students.

[00:23:38] I urge you to closely examine the enrollment numbers presented. They seem intended to placate the extremely valid concerns of Westfield community members. As pointed out by a speaker on Monday night, the decline in enrollment at Westfield will have a dramatic impact on staffing and course offerings.

[00:23:55] This past year, there was a two-to-one discrepancy in advanced placement in higher math and computer science courses sections between Chantilly and Westfield, despite a headcount difference of only 163 students. I have a rising sixth grader that has met all of the required and recommended benchmarks to take Algebra I in sixth grade, and she is excited for the challenge.

[00:24:18] I do not know what her high school math course offerings at Westfield High School will look like after 10th grade. Westfield does not currently offer any math courses for college-level credit beyond AP Calculus BC and AP Statistics. If she were a current student, Chantilly or Fairfax, she would be able to take DE, linear algebra, and multivariable calculus, additional two college credits.

[00:24:40] I simply do not understand how making trades the expense of future Westfall students will support goal number three of the strategic plan to allow my child to meet slash exceed high academic standards and achieve her highest academic potential. Thank you.

[00:24:56] Sweta Mandalapu. Sweta, can you hear us? Good evening, members of the school board and Dr. Reed.

[00:25:22] My name is Sweta Mandalapu, a resident of Fairfax County, and I'm speaking on behalf of Rockland Village community, representing approximately 100 homes that are part of the Rockland Village HOA. I'm here to respectfully ask for careful consideration of our community's concerns and to keep Rockland Village assigned to the current schools and not reassign our community to a new middle and high schools.

[00:25:44] First, this proposal would place an unnecessary economic burden on nearly 100 families in Rockland Village. Many homeowners purchased their homes knowing they were assigned to Shantley High School. Our community has already faced challenges with home values due to the perception of Brookfield Elementary School, Losing access to middle and high schools would make our neighborhood even less attractive to future buyers, potentially lowering property values.

[00:26:10] Families forced to move out for educational opportunities could be forced to sell for less while facing today's much higher and inflated housing prices, making it even more difficult. And this change raises serious safety concerns. Shantley High School is within walking distance for many of our students.

[00:26:28] students will have to bike through Route 28, one of the busiest roads in our area, along with several major intersections. This increases the risk to our children. This reassignment would create long commutes, heavy traffic, and more difficult daily drop-offs and pickups for working families. And also, Shantley High School gives us major opportunities to do higher level math courses which are useful in college which our kids will be missing out.

[00:27:01] We respectfully ask why is our community being asked to bear this burden along with the low income communities around us who do not voice. If this proposal is intended to strengthen our schools and communities how does moving nearly 100 Rockland Village families away from their long established neighborhood high schools accomplish that goal.

[00:27:22] Please hear us. Joy Huang. Joy Huang. Fariba Sharifi. Fariba.

[00:27:44] Good evening, everyone. This is Fariba. As I, most of my neighbors kind of covered everything, my main concern, I am a mother of four kids. Currently, two of my boys goes to Chantilly High.

[00:28:08] I have two girls that are going, and within a year, two years, both of them are attending Chantilly High. My major concern, they basically cover most of my concern is what they all talked about it already, safety.

[00:28:26] I have two girls that they're going to be going to Chantilly. They're supposed to be going to Chantilly High School, which is very close to home. I have a job in Virginia. My second job is in Maryland. Sometimes I don't make it at home, and I don't make it on time to get home to pick him up after school.

[00:28:47] My kids are in a lot of activities. I'm just very concerned for them to be walking or biking from Westfield to get to home. So definitely major concern is safety.

[00:29:03] I don't know, my other question is the two that are already attending high school and then my other two. So I'm separating my two girls from the two boys. It's just having a peace of mind, having all four of my kids in the same high school would be my major concern.

[00:29:22] I would really appreciate if I could keep all my kids in the same high school together and close to home than crossing major highways to get home. I think that's all I that's all I can say safety please concern our safety our kids safety crossing the major highway especially highway of 28 I'm scared to drive there.

[00:29:48] Can you imagine my kids crossing that highway getting home after school. That's all. Thanks. Ms. Dixit that was our last speaker. Thank you for sharing your comments today. 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 communityparticipation@fcps.edu.

[00:30:16] The school board will consider this issue later tonight as a part of regular meeting. This public hearing for the Fairfax County School Board is adjourned as of 7:00 p.m. Thank you.

[00:30:38] - Mr. McDaniel, tech needs about five minutes for transition. - Okay, five minutes.

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