We support:
- Open schools for in-person education, 5 days a week
- School choice and vouchers so that tax dollars follow the student, and give parents control
- Merit-based admission standards for Governor’s Schools (TJ High School) and academic programs
- High academic standards, such as advanced math & science, so students can compete in a global economy
- Focus on academics not critical race theory (CRT)
Fairfax County Public Schools By the Numbers:
- 10th largest school system
- ~75% of Fairfax County’s 1.1 million residents do not currently have children in FCPS
- 198 schools and centers
- 800+ trailers
- 27.5 million square feet of covered infrastructure facilities, plus another 1+ million square feet in temporary facilities (trailers)
- 1,630 buses, the largest school bus fleet in the United States
- 18.5 million bus miles traveled annually transporting 130,000 students daily
- 15,287 teacher positions
- 24,121 total full-time positions (includes teacher positions)
- ~14,000 additional part-time positions
FCPS School Board
- 12 Board Members – nine by Magisterial District, three at-Large – all serve 4 year terms
- 4 total number of Board Members each voter may cast a ballot for; , 1 for the voter’s Magisterial District and three at-Large.
FCPS Budget
- $2,870,278,776 Billion operational budget – primarily funded by Fairfax County residents (70.1 percent). The balance of the funding is from the Commonwealth of Virginia (23.1 percent), other sources (6.8 percent) and the federal government (1.6 percent)
- ~53% of the entire Fairfax County budget is transferred by the Board of Supervisors to the School Board for the FCPS Budget
- $404,874,411 of the $2.9 Billion budget is for retirement
- $155 Million in additional funds is for the Capital Improvement Plan Budget
- $15,318 average cost per student
KEY LINKS:
- Budget Documents: https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/budget/budget-documents
- Budget Questions and Responses: https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/budget/budget-question-responses
- Capital Improvement Program: https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/facilities-planning-future/capital-improvement-program
- School Board: https://www.fcps.edu/school-board
- Cox Channel 21 – Televised School Board Meetings
- School Board Meetings: https://www.fcps.edu/school-board/school-board-meetings
- School Board Meeting agendas, minutes, videos and photos: https://www.fcps.edu/school-board/agenda_minutes_photos
- FCPS Livestream: https://www.fcps.edu/tv
- School Board Meetings on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSz76NCRDYQF3hPS2qS2SGEcoO4__Yd7Z
- Archived School Board Meeting Videos: https://www.fcps.edu/node/32692
- School Board Standing Committees: https://www.fcps.edu/school-board/school-board-committees
- About FCPS: https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps
- One Fairfax: https://www.fcps.edu/onefairfax
Elizabeth Schultz Named as Virginia’s Assistant Superintendent of Public Instruction
Today Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin named Jillian Balow as Virginia’s next Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Elizabeth Schultz as the next Assistant Superintendent of Public Instruction.
“Jillian and Elizabeth are going to be crucial in helping Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera restore excellence in education,” Youngkin said.
BOMBSHELL: Woke Racist School Board Emails, Texts Revealed
In fall 2020, Fairfax County, Va., school board members said the quiet part out loud.
As school district officials engineered race-based admissions changes to America’s No. 1 high school, to increase the numbers of Black and Hispanic students, school board member Abrar Omeish sent board member Stella Pekarsky a text, saying: “I mean there has been an anti asian feel underlying some of this, hate to say it lol,” using the acronym for “laughing out loud.”
Youngkin Announces Selection of Education Secretary
Governor-Elect Glenn Youngkin today announced he has chosen Aimee Rogstad Guidera to serve as the next Secretary of Education of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
“Aimee will be a critical partner in restoring expectations of excellence; overseeing a record education budget to invest in teachers, facilities and special education; rolling out innovation lab and charter schools; and standing for a curriculum that prepares Virginia’s children for a dynamic future and removes politics from the classroom,” said Governor-elect Youngkin.
“Open FCPS” Coalition Files Petition to Recall Laura Cohen
A coalition of Fairfax County parents, Open FCPS Coalition, submitted a petition with over 8,000 signatures, double the amount needed, to the Fairfax County Circuit Court, asking for the removal of Laura Cohen from the School Board. In response to 8,000 of her constituents seeking her removal, Cohen sent out a fundraising email making false claims that the bi-partisan group has been pushing anti-vaccine and pro-book burning messaging. She even went as far as to say members of the group had been arrested for disorderly conduct. None of these claims are true.
FAIRFAXXX: County Library Features Obscene Books in “Holiday Display”
Fairfax County’s Dolley Madison Library recently showcased two highly controversial books — “Gender Queer” and “Lawn Boy” — alongside the Bible in a “holiday reading display.” Fairfax County’s school board is currently engulfed in controversy surrounding “Gender Queer” and “Lawn Boy” in district libraries.
According to detractors, “Gender Queer” and “Lawn Boy,” which include sexually vulgar passages and images, do not belong in school libraries. Fairfax County Public Schools, however, defends them as “diverse reading materials that reflect our student population.”
Glenn Youngkin, America’s “Parent Champion”
It is my honor to name our first recipient of our Parent Champion Award. We have established this award to honor someone who has gone above and beyond in championing the rights of parents in their children’s lives.
There is a parable that says “For such a time as this…” a leader emerges, prepared for the moment by all of that person’s life experiences before.
FCPS Defends Sexually Explicit Materials
On the eve of Thanksgiving Break, Fairfax County Public Schools announced that it will return two highly controversial, sexually explicit items to library shelves. “The decision reaffirms FCPS’ ongoing commitment to provide diverse reading materials that reflect our student population, allowing every child an opportunity to see themselves reflected in literary characters,” the embattled district said in a November 23 statement.
The decision follows a temporary removal of two books — Gender Queer: A Memoir and Lawn Boy — that many parents considered inappropriate for minors.
Judge Rules in Favor of Moms who Published School District Information
A Fairfax County judge ruled in favor of parents who published information they received from Fairfax County Public Schools after the school division sought to prevent some information from being public.
Two parents, Debra Tisler and Callie Oettinger, published information about school spending and other activities, which the school division handed over to them in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.