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Hundreds of Fairfax County students will attend newly assigned schools this fall after the School Board approved its first comprehensive boundary overhaul in roughly 40 years.

The board adopted the plan Thursday night in an 8-3 vote following more than a year of public engagement and revisions. Board members Mateo Dunne, Ryan McElveen and Ilryong Moon voted against it.

The changes affect 1,697 students, most of them in elementary school. An earlier proposal from Superintendent Michelle Reid would have reassigned 2,210 students.

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

Previously, Fairfax County generally made smaller boundary adjustments after discussions involving affected neighborhoods, School Board members or the superintendent. Under an updated board policy, the school division must now review boundaries every five years.

Board member Kyle McDaniel said the adjustments begin a gradual effort to balance enrollment, expand equitable access to programs and operate the nation’s eighth-largest school system more efficiently.

The board held a final public hearing before voting. Some community members silently displayed signs as the decision approached.

Split feeders and attendance islands targeted

The review considered academic programming, enrollment, building capacity, proximity and transportation. It focused partly on split feeders, where students from one school advance to different middle or high schools, and attendance islands, where part of a neighborhood is assigned differently from most nearby homes.

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

Board member Marcia St. John-Cunning said the board pursued the review despite warnings that it would be difficult and would not satisfy everyone.

Overcrowding eased at several schools

The plan shifts students away from overcrowded campuses, including Coates Elementary School. Its students will be reassigned among McNair and McNair Upper, Herndon and Floris elementary schools.

At McLean High School, 201 students will move to Langley High School. That change eliminates a split feeder and an attendance island while reducing McLean’s projected capacity use from 109% to 100%.

Some affected students may remain at their current schools, though transportation might not be provided. Several board members expressed concern about that limitation.

Parents offered mixed reactions during months of meetings and hearings. Some worried about the disruption, while others argued that the plan did not make enough changes.

McElveen said the outcome did not justify the cost of the process and warned that the decisions could reshape friendships and communities in ways that cannot be fully predicted.

Several neighborhoods will receive another review before the next five-year cycle, Reid said. Recommendations for those areas are expected by January 2027, while several other locations have been identified for future consideration.

Approved elementary school reassignments

The elementary-level changes include:

• 48 students moving from Rolling Valley to Saratoga, lowering Rolling Valley’s capacity use to 90%.
• 53 students moving from Olde Creek to Laurel Ridge, reducing Olde Creek from 92% to 79% while eliminating split feeders and an attendance island.
• Fewer than 10 students moving from Westbriar to Colvin Run, eliminating a middle-school split feeder.
• 19 students moving from Fort Belvoir Primary and Fort Belvoir Upper to Washington Mill.
• 35 students moving from Riverside to Stratford Landing and 76 moving from Riverside to Woodlawn, reducing Riverside from 93% to 79%.
• 108 students moving from Coates to McNair and McNair Upper, 190 moving from Coates to Herndon, and 65 moving from Coates to Floris. The shifts eliminate a split feeder.
• 78 students moving from Parklawn to Belvedere and 20 moving from Parklawn to Columbia.
• 107 students moving from Fort Hunt to Mount Vernon Woods, eliminating an attendance island.
• 58 students moving from Groveton to Hybla Valley, also eliminating an attendance island.

A boundary area will also shift from Hollin Meadows to Stratford Landing, though no current elementary students are affected.

Middle school reassignments

At the middle-school level:

• 23 students will move from Katherine Johnson to Rocky Run, lowering Katherine Johnson’s capacity use to 101%.
• 172 students will move from Kilmer to Thoreau, eliminating a split feeder and reducing Kilmer from 118% to 101%.
• 107 students will move from Longfellow to Cooper, eliminating a split feeder and an attendance island.
• 27 students will move from Glasgow to Poe, lowering Glasgow from 102% to 94%.
• 32 students will move from Sandburg to Whitman.
• Fewer than 10 students will move from Franklin to Rocky Run.

High school reassignments

The high-school changes include:

• 45 students moving from Fairfax to Chantilly, lowering Fairfax High School’s capacity use to 97%.
• 128 students moving from Marshall to Madison, eliminating split feeders and reducing Marshall from 97% to 91%.
• 201 students moving from McLean to Langley, eliminating a split feeder and attendance island while lowering McLean from 109% to 100%.
• 46 students moving from Justice to Falls Church, eliminating a split feeder.
• 54 students moving from West Potomac to Mount Vernon.