Fairfax Co. approves school boundary changes, set to take effect this fall

Hundreds of Fairfax County students will be zoned for new schools this fall, as part of boundary changes the school board in the Northern Virginia suburb approved Thursday night.

The step comes after over a year of public engagement and adjustments to the proposal, which was shaped with help from the K-12 firm Thru Consulting.

The board approved the plan with an 8-3 vote. The opposing board members were Mateo Dunne, Ryan McElveen and Ilryong Moon.

“I know that there’s no process that’s perfect, particularly first time out,” Superintendent Michelle Reid told the board. “We can’t let perfect become the enemy of progress. I believe this is a great start.”

The district embarked on its first comprehensive boundary review in about 40 years. Previously, neighborhoods saw minor adjustments after conversations with school board members or the superintendent, but not at a divisionwide level.

Now, after an update to a school board policy, school boundaries have to be reviewed every five years moving forward.

“These adjustments represent a step forward in the overall process to slowly and methodically align boundaries across the division, to equalize enrollment, to deliver equitable access to programming, and to efficiently operate the eighth largest school system in the country,” Board member Kyle McDaniel said.

The board held one final public hearing Thursday night before its vote, and some community members sat silently with signs before the new boundaries were approved.

Details of the plan

In total, the changes will impact 1,697 students, most of them elementary schoolers. Reid’s initial proposal would have changed boundaries for 2,210 kids.

The changes, which took access to programming, enrollment, capacity, proximity and transportation into consideration, address what the district characterizes as split feeders and attendance islands.

Split feeders are schools that feed into different middle and high schools, whereas attendance islands are sections of neighborhoods zoned for a school different from most of the same neighborhood.

The approved plan will eliminate or reduce seven elementary to middle school split feeders, eight elementary to high school split feeders and five school attendance islands.

“This board took this on when a lot of people advised against it, because we knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Board member Marcia St. John-Cunning said.

“We knew it was going to be a heavy lift, and we knew we would not be pleasing everyone, but we recognize the importance of the work collectively and for everyone.”

What are the impacts?

The plan has different impacts to various campuses. For one, it addresses overcrowding at Coates Elementary by reassigning kids to other elementary schools.

A change impacting 201 students at McLean High School eliminates a split feeder and attendance island and decreases the capacity there from 109% to 100%.

Some students will have the option to remain at their current schools, even if the boundary changes. However, they may not receive transportation if that’s what they choose, a possibility several board members said they’re concerned about.

Through months of community meetings and public hearings, some parents worried about the impact of the changes, while others felt they didn’t go far enough.

McElveen said the process hasn’t yielded results commensurate with its cost.

“What we are doing tonight will have life-changing consequences for children and ripple through their lives in ways we cannot fully anticipate,” McElveen said.

“We are reshaping communities, determining friendships that may last a lifetime, connections that will sustain them through joy and hardships alike.”

Reid said several neighborhoods are on a list to be reviewed sooner than the next five years, with recommendations for changes expected by January 2027. A handful of other sites have been highlighted for future review.

Approved changes

Elementary school changes:

Reassigns 48 students from Rolling Valley Elementary to Saratoga Elementary. The change decreases Rolling Valley’s capacity to 90%.
Reassigns 53 kids from Olde Creek to Laurel Ridge, decreasing Olde Creek’s capacity from 92% to 79%. The shift eliminates split feeders and an attendance island.
Reassigns fewer than 10 students from Westbriar Elementary to Colvin Run. The move eliminates a split feeder at the middle school level.
Reassigns 19 elementary students from Fort Belvoir Primary Elementary and Fort Belvoir Upper Elementary to Washington Mill.
Reassigns 35 kids from Riverside to Stratford Landing and 76 from Riverside to Woodlawn. Riverside’s capacity decreases from 93% to 79%.
Reassigns 108 kids from Coates to McNair and McNair Upper; 190 from Coates to Herndon; 65 from Coates to Floris. The move eliminates a split feeder.
Reassigns 78 kids from Parklawn to Belvedere and 20 from Parklawn to Columbia.
Reassigns 107 kids from Fort Hunt to Mount Vernon Woods, eliminating an attendance island.
Reassigns 58 kids from Groveton Elementary to Hybla Valley Elementary, eliminating an attendance island.
A change that doesn’t impact any current elementary students reassigns a boundary from Hollin Meadows to Stratford Landing.

Middle school changes:

Reassigns 23 students from Katherine Johnson Middle to Rocky Run Middle, decreasing Katherine Johnson’s capacity to 101%.
Reassigns 172 middle schoolers from Kilmer to Thoreau, eliminating a split feeder and decreasing Kilmer’s capacity from 118% to 101%.
Reassigns 107 kids from Longfellow to Cooper. Eliminates a split feeder and attendance island.
Reassigns 27 kids from Glasgow to Poe, decreasing Glasgow’s capacity from 102% to 94%.
Reassigns 32 middle schoolers from Sandburg to Whitman.
Reassigns fewer than 10 middle schoolers from Franklin to Rocky Run.

High school changes:

Reassigns 45 students from Fairfax High to Chantilly High, decreasing Fairfax High’s capacity to 97%.
Reassigns 128 high schoolers from Marshall to Madison, eliminating split feeders and decreasing Marshall’s capacity from 97% to 91%.
Reassigns 201 high schoolers from McLean to Langley, eliminating a split feeder and attendance island. Decreases McLean capacity from 109% to 100%.
Reassigns 46 kids from Justice to Falls Church, eliminating a split feeder.
Reassigns 54 kids from West Potomac to Mount Vernon.

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