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Fairfax County Public Schools closed March with student achievements, classroom visits, performances and athletic events — alongside warnings about a $150 million budget gap and major changes to Virginia’s school accountability system.
Two FCPS educators earned statewide recognition. Justice High School science teacher Kirsten Salonga and Hayfield Secondary School mathematics teacher John Mika were named among five Virginia finalists for the 2025 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. A national committee will review the finalists before winners are announced.
Alyce Pope, a family services specialist at Leis Center, was also recognized as a finalist for the National Education Association’s Education Support Professional of the Year Award.
Students Bring Their Concerns to FCPS Leaders
Superintendent Michelle Reid held the spring’s second Community Conversation at Kings Park Elementary School. Families discussed the comprehensive boundary review, services for special education and twice-exceptional students, and middle school after-school programs.
Students also offered feedback about grading and test-retake policies. Their participation reflects the school division’s stated commitment to including student perspectives in its 2023-30 Strategic Plan.
At Woodson High School, representatives from every FCPS high school presented research through the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council. Working in groups tied to the Strategic Plan’s goals, the students proposed ways the division could improve its work.
Reid also met with Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology student Navya Tuteja, founder of Empower InvisAbilities. The nonprofit promotes awareness, inclusion and advocacy for students with conditions including ADHD, autism, dyslexia and anxiety.
Another meeting brought together the 2e Superintendent’s Advisory Committee, which represents twice-exceptional learners. In FCPS, those students receive Advanced Academic Program services while also having an Individualized Education Program or 504 Plan.
Families, educators, administrators and central-office employees reviewed data on students receiving both types of programming. The analysis included grade level, ethnicity, multilingual-learner status and overall identification for advanced academic placement.
The Boundary Review Advisory Committee also met to continue examining the divisionwide boundary process. Its membership includes representatives from all 24 FCPS high school pyramids, along with teachers, administrators, operational employees and other community members.
A Close Look at Early Learning
During a visit to Belvedere Elementary School, Reid toured six prekindergarten classrooms serving part of the school’s approximately 100 pre-K students.
Teachers Anna Koch, Callista Doulis, Lauren Decker, Brittany Smith, Kate Coho and Jecsi Huarcaya Rodas led activities ranging from morning meetings and breathing exercises to lessons about community helpers, safety and making pizza. Students also read Sheep in a Jeep and Stanley the Hamster before heading to the playground.
The visit supported Goal 1 of the Strategic Plan, which focuses on giving every student a strong start.
Literacy Results and Access to Advanced Courses
At the School Board’s Thursday meeting, Reid delivered an update on Goal 4 of the Strategic Plan: Equitable Access and Opportunity.
The presentation focused partly on academically demanding courses, which FCPS said are associated with on-time graduation, college enrollment and completion, and higher earnings. The division reported that 66% of current jobs require education beyond high school, while 80% of the jobs lost during the Great Recession required no more than a high school diploma.
FCPS strategies include using enrollment data to revise course offerings and pathways, strengthening academic advising, preparing students for advanced work, expanding rigorous courses and removing common participation barriers.
The division is also trying to widen access to extracurricular activities by offering more options, identifying barriers and working through its Goal Innovation Team. Participation is associated with stronger self-esteem, belonging and mental health, as well as lower levels of risky behavior.
Elementary literacy was another major topic. FCPS aims to have every student reading at grade level by third grade under Goal 3, Academic Growth and Excellence. Its approach includes the Benchmark Advance curriculum, student-progress screeners and intensive interventions documented through reading plans.
Since fall, FCPS reported that an additional 14.2% of third graders had gained foundational skills needed for grade-level success. It also said 8.4% were no longer performing below grade level. The presentation highlighted efforts to support multilingual learners and students with disabilities through rigorous instruction, targeted intervention and inclusive practices.
Performances, Sports and Mental Health Advocacy
Hayfield Middle School’s Advanced Theatre students performed a 15-minute adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Gatehouse Administration Center. Led by theater arts teacher John Kownacki, the abridged production featured Shakespeare’s fairies, romantic confusion and mistaken identities.
Justice High School students staged Almost, Maine for their Cappies performance later that day.
On Saturday, Reid participated in the ConnerStrong Foundation’s You Are Not Alone 5K Fun Run at Belle Haven Park. The organization promotes mental-health awareness and suicide prevention, particularly among teenagers and young adults, while supporting affected families and communities.
The event also highlighted Sources of Strength, a peer-based prevention program intended to reduce suicide, violence, bullying and substance misuse by connecting students with trusted adults and encouraging healthier social norms.
Reid later attended a track-and-field meet at Woodson High School and a lacrosse tournament at Robinson Secondary School.
The weekend concluded with the 50th annual Sixth Grade All-County Choral Festival at Mount Vernon High School. Auditioned students prepared for months with their elementary music teachers before joining two days of intensive rehearsals and a final concert. This year’s festival included 800 students, 160 general music teachers and 97 elementary schools.
Budget Gap Puts Programs at a Crossroads
The celebrations came with a warning about whether FCPS can continue supporting its current academic and extracurricular programs.
FCPS said Virginia has underfunded the division by an estimated $568.7 million annually, or about $3,100 per student. State support for public education has also been identified as a major program potentially exposed to reductions in federal funding.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors was scheduled to finalize its budget on May 6. At the time of Reid’s message, the advertised county budget left FCPS $150 million short of its requested funding.
School leaders warned that continued underfunding could force cuts to programs families have come to expect, including opportunities such as the All-County Chorus and other extracurricular and co-curricular activities.
New State Formula Will Reshape High School Ratings
FCPS is also preparing for Virginia’s 2024 Accountability System and its School Performance and Support Framework.
Under the previous system, a high school’s academic accountability reflected state tests taken by its students during the current school year. The new model instead assigns test results to a school’s senior cohort, regardless of when students took the exams or which high school they attended at the time.
Because students commonly take math and biology Standards of Learning exams in ninth or 10th grade and the high school reading exam in 11th grade, some results may not appear in accountability calculations for as long as three years. Scores will be assigned to the school a student attends at the end of the fourth year of high school, even when the testing occurred in another school or division.
The new model also reports only one result per student in reading, mathematics and science.
For science, only the biology SOL will count toward accountability, although earth science, chemistry, Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams may still verify graduation credits.
Only the reading SOL will count for English accountability. The writing SOL and substitutes such as WorkKeys, AP and IB exams can continue to satisfy credit requirements.
For mathematics, the system will generally use Algebra 1 or the first SOL exam a student takes in grades nine through 12. Students who complete all math SOL exams before leaving middle school may have an approved AP, IB, ACT or SAT result used instead.
The revisions do not directly change students’ testing experiences or graduation requirements. They will, however, make the state’s forthcoming high school performance reports substantially different from previous calculations.
FCPS said it plans to explain those distinctions to families and communities while urging state officials to adopt an accountability system that accurately reflects school performance.