This article originally appeared here, at ffxnow.com
Many Fairfax County School Board members initially celebrated the purchase of the now-defunct King Abdullah Academy building in the Herndon area, but that excitement is now being tempered by a simmering conflict over what form the proposed new high school should take.
There are a range of models available, from traditional or traditional-with-academies types of school to a magnet program similar to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
While some on the board were eager to jump at the chance to establish another magnet program at a work session on Tuesday (Aug. 26), others said making the school anything other than a traditional high school would be a betrayal of their commitment to alleviate overcrowding at high schools on the western end of Fairfax.
In a presentation, Fairfax County Public Schools staff said that possible programs being considered include:
FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid recommended that the school board consider a magnet program, but limit attendance to students at high schools on the county’s west side.
“We have an opportunity to create something cutting-edge,” Reid said. “My recommendation would be to look at global priority areas that are thoughtful and think about a magnet program limited to our west-side high schools, because we’ve made an obligation to alleviate [crowding at] those high schools.”
Reid said the school will also require remodeling, given that it previously had space for elementary and secondary education programs.
At-large school board member Ryan McElveen said any new school, even a magnet program, would have some benefit for overcrowding issues. Vice Chair Robyn Lady, who represents the Dranesville District, also said she saw opportunity in using the site as a magnet program.
“The future focused idea is phenomenal,” Lady said. “Having worked at [Thomas Jefferson]… it’s such a unique experience because you’re building up to your senior tech lab. This is tremendous opportunity. I’m nervous about a traditional high school because of losing partnering funding.”
Lady said there are companies around Northern Virginia that would be eager to partner with a magnet program like Thomas Jefferson.
“I’m fine restricting enrollment predominantly to the western schools,” Lady said, “but I think there are other innovative ways to address overcrowding.”
Others, however, argued that the magnet program ambitions could potentially take away from the more urgent goal of relieving overcrowding.
“I don’t want to lose sight of school capacity relief for the west end,” Providence District Representative Karl Frisch said.
“It needs to be a western-boundaries traditional high school,” said at-large board member Kyle McDaniel. “We talked about funding challenges we’re having. I have a hard time spending $150-plus million on something not targeted towards capacity relief in the west when boards past has very consistently stated that western capacity relief is a priority.”
Hunter Mill District Representative Melanie Meren said FCPS also needs to be transparent and public about its purchasing to ensure it’s seen as a good steward of taxpayer funding.
“I’ve been so excited to celebrate this, but there hasn’t been a public announcement that we even bought this school,” Meren said. “There’s been news stories, but not a public statement on how much it cost … We need to do our responsibility so the Board of Supervisors knows that we know what we’re doing with the money.”
Meren said FCPS needs to come back to the school board with more information on how the school purchase affects school bonds and the schedule for planned renovations.
The meeting also included a discussion of possible names and, more generally, the framework of how FCPS names schools.
“There is a history of naming and it’s passionate,” Meren said. “It would be helpful if the board could be presented with that.”
Some on the school board noted that, with a few exceptions like Justice High School, John R. Lewis High School and Edison High School, high schools around Fairfax are generally named after geographic locations. While renaming buildings honoring individuals can be contentious, McElveen said his hope is that naming a brand-new school — rather than renaming an existing one — will be a less heated discussion.
“They can be contentious processes, but those were renaming and this is a naming, so hopefully it will be less so,” McElveen said.
FCPS most recently updated its naming policy and procedures in 2019 and 2020 following a prolonged, polarizing debate over renaming Lake Barcroft’s Justice High School, which previously bore the moniker of Confederate general J.E.B. Stuart.
“Those renamings were contentious, for sure, but they were to right a wrong in some ways,” Mason District Representative Ricardy Anderson said. “It was looking to take those Confederate names out and focus on communities most harmed by those Confederate names.”
Mount Vernon District Representative Mateo Dunne said names should be given due public input, but warned against opening up a poll to the public to avoid a “Boaty McBoatface” situation.
FCPS anticipates spending the 2025-2026 school year planning for the new facility, which is slated to open for its first 9th and 10th grade classes in 2026. Those students would become the first graduating class in June 2029.
The naming process, meanwhile, will run over the course of 12 weeks starting sometime soon.
“We need to hit the ground running if we want to start in fall 2026,” Reid said.