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Mason District Community,
A revision to Boundary Policy 8130 regarding phasing will be voted on by the School Board tomorrow, July 17, 2025. Please review the proposed language (also included below) and contact me with any questions or concerns.
I encourage you to continue to share your thoughts on the three draft scenarios by leaving a comment and/or responding to a short survey within the Boundary Explorer Tool. The survey and commenting function will close on Friday, July 18, at 5 p.m.
Phasing Revision
Hunter Mill District Representative Melanie Meren and I have proposed the following revision to Boundary Policy 8130 regarding phasing. The Board will vote on the revised language at the July 17, 2025 School Board meeting.
Click on image to enlarge
Boundary Work Session Q&A
The School Board discussed the Comprehensive School Boundary Review during an all-day work session on June 17. An update was provided to the Board followed by a brief discussion. A recording of the June 17 meeting is also available.
Dr. Reid’s responses to the most pressing questions raised by the community are included below.
Modulars and Trailers
Request to present all capacity data with and without modulars.
Response: This request will be passed along to the consultant. The distinction between modulars and trailers and the way in which our CIP has traditionally reported those is part of a broader conversation, but certainly within the context of the boundary work. We can take a look at that. If this is a direction the Board wants, I could make that happen.
Is there an opportunity, through this comprehensive school boundary review to achieve a significant reduction in the number of trailers in FCPS?
Response: The Board as a body would have to make that direction, because right now the Board has directed those four priority areas. Trailers could be subsumed under them, but it's certainly an implied benefit that we have fewer trailers.
Free and Reduced Meals Data
Will Free-Reduced Meal (FRM) data be included in the scenario analyses to determine Title 1 impact and eligibility? How will this be considered and addressed by the committee and the consultant?
Response: Those issues haven't been discussed at this time. They have been focused on the four filters of the policy. That is a question yet to be determined.
Transportation Studies
What is the timeline for transportation studies?
Response: Transportation studies require very specific boundaries before they can be run. Distances have been run as part of the conversation. The transportation studies will be run after the next set of maps is created.
Grade 6 in Middle Schools
Is there an update on grade 6 in middle schools as part of the conversation? Where does that fit into this comprehensive school boundary review?
Response: The early map did not indicate that at this time we could do that divisionwide. It looked like in some areas, there was a possibility that we could do that. As we move forward with the next iteration of maps, I will consider it as a recommendation in areas where it is possible without significant disruption or cost.
One Plan vs. Components
When the Board is making boundary decisions, do you anticipate having one big plan to which the Board will respond or will there be many “sections” to which the Board will vote separately?
Response: Given the scale of the division, the point of doing a holistic review is to have one plan because something that happens in one part of the county affects things that happen in other parts of the county. It is more likely than not that there will be one, or maybe more than one, large scenario with potentially one or two options.
Leadership
How will the current transition in our facilities leadership impact the process?
Response: The new chief of facilities will need to come up to speed quickly, It will be a matter of integrating into the team that's been providing data for the consultants. As with any transition, it will create some challenges, but we will be able to work through them. We have a strong team.
Future Work and Phasing
We are not likely to fix all of the problems that we have right now. This was a problem that was created over 50 plus years. It's not something that we're going to be able to get out of with one minimal change that we're trying to maintain as many of our communities as possible. So at some point, are you going to be able to come back to us and talk about how we're going to change things slowly over time?
Response: Phasing as part of my recommendation will very likely be part of the conversation that I will bring to the Board in January. What we want to do is comb the county, and make as many adjustments as are reasonable and feasible to improve the four filtered areas with the understanding that there will be more work to do.
Are there plans to look back on this process so that we can refine it for future use?
Response: We are creating a story map - an action map. There are best practices around cyclical reviews and iterative processes that are authentic. We are trying to capture this to make sure it won't need to be in this depth every five years, but certainly an opportunity to review. To have pyramid level representation, I think, is important. I think there are many pieces that are critically important and perhaps tools we haven't used to date that we're going to find to be very helpful for future work.
Do you anticipate that the underlying data driving these changes will be shared in future parts of this process?
Response: Yes
Mapping
Do we know that there are some mistakes in the existing maps that are going to need to be fixed in this next iteration?
Response: Yes, there were some errors based on a misunderstanding around neighborhood lines.
How are we assessing the impacts of suggested changes and their trade-offs and effects created downstream?
Response: The data is currently being filtered through the four filters of the policy to draw maps. This is something the committee is going to need to wrestle with.
Will additional objectives be added to the three initial boundary objectives over the course of the summer before October?
Response: It is possible. If there is a strong pattern of feedback that leans in another topic area, it is something that will need to be explored.
Programming
How is programming going to be addressed when you consider AAP centers? Will that all be part of this next phase of understanding the overall impact of proposed changes?
Response: It will. At this time, there is no plan to move the AAP centers. It is really going to be how they adjust how communities are adjusted in terms of attending which ones. There is not a plan on the table at this time to move those out of one building to another.
Is an AAP Center for the Annandale pyramid still an ongoing conversation as part of this work?
Response: Yes, I have a timeline and plan that I am ready to share.
Community Communications
Is the community receiving acknowledgments for communications and responses to specific questions?
Response: Responses are provided to the degree possible, but not necessarily a direct answer. The feedback is being provided to the consultant. But until the committee wrestles with the feedback, there really isn't an answer other than, “Thank you, and please continue to provide the feedback.”
What can we do as School Board members to best prepare the community for the October meetings and to ensure that they get involved and have their voices heard?
Response: The School Board Advisory Committee members for each community are going to be key, and that making sure that they are comfortable in each pyramid, being part of that conversation. I also have parent vision groups that have membership from all schools in the county. I will be encouraging them to have people come out to share their feedback. Once new maps are posted online, I encourage community members to comment on those.
Timeline
Is the current timeline realistic considering that the detailed maps will be presented in October, followed by pyramid community meetings and possible revised versions in November/December with a vote expected in January?
Response: It is an ambitious timeline, but we would only go back to the pyramids that we are planning to effect, or a boundary in that pyramid would be moved. We don’t know those numbers yet. It is important to do this well and not feel rushed. On the other hand, the Board has set an expectation to receive a recommendation by January 26th.
School Start Times
How will the middle school start times be incorporated into this work?
Response: We have a commitment to healthy start times. We know those benefit our adolescents in particular, so we're trying to make sure we integrate whatever those plans are. Mr. Mueck and his team are working on those in-house right now for the fall of 2026, potentially for your consideration as a Board in January of 2026, to coincide with this topic. We are going to need to look at how the boundary adjustments match up with the start times, so that work will be integrated.
BRAC Update
The most recent Superintendent’s Boundary Review Advisory Committee (BRAC) meeting was held on Monday, June 23 and included a review of community engagement and feedback received during the boundary meetings held in May and June. The June 23 presentation included information about errors identified in the initial scenarios, survey response percentages by region, and priorities indicated by respondents.
The committee subgroups discussed and identified the top priorities for further work by the consultant. The subgroups were tasked with refining and finalizing their priority lists by July 7th.
Next Steps
Community Meetings
During the next few months, the consultant will use the data gathered to update the draft boundary scenarios. A third round of community meetings will be scheduled in the fall to provide the community with an opportunity to review revised boundary maps and provide additional feedback. Meeting details will be posted to the Comprehensive School Boundary Review webpage as they are confirmed.
Final Scenarios and Approval
Using feedback received from the community meetings in the fall, the consultant will develop final scenarios to present for approval by the Board in January 2026. New boundaries would be effective Fall 2026.
BRAC
Continue to share your feedback with your pyramid BRAC representative:
Annandale Pyramid
AnnandalePyramidBRACrep@gmail.com
Lucas Castanos Jr.
Jacque Mosely
Falls Church Pyramid
FallsChurchBRACrep1@gmail.com
Lorena Katsantonis
Charla Ouertatani
Justice Pyramid
JusticePyramidBRAC@gmail.com
Aaron Alford
Ann-Marie Ward
The committee will continue to receive information over the summer and is scheduled to meet again on August 5th.
Stay Informed
Stay updated by signing up for the School Boundary Review Newsletter and check the Boundary Review website regularly for meeting documents and presentations.
Note: This newsletter contains links to translated versions of the content for your convenience. These translations are generated by Google Translate and are not intended to be a substitute for professional translation services.
The views contained within this newsletter reflect the views of the individual school board member who is the publisher of this newsletter and may not reflect the views of the Fairfax County School Board.
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