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Fairfax County Public Schools plans to test a new system for identifying traffic and pedestrian hazards across its 200 schools, but some school board members worry the approach will place yet another responsibility on already-burdened administrators.

The School Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Assessment Program, presented during a school board work session Tuesday, Jan. 14, is intended to address problems such as congested “Kiss and Ride” loops, bus backups, dangerous crossings and poor crosswalk visibility.

Under the plan, individual schools would assess their own conditions and report the findings to the central office. While some board members welcomed the effort, others questioned whether principals and other school employees have the capacity to lead it.

“This is obviously a great amount of work, and it makes sense, but … our individual schools cannot bear the full responsibility of all matters related to pedestrian and vehicular safety regarding our schools,” Hunter Mill District Representative Melanie Meren said. “This is just another example of how we are being saddled with so much more than just instruction.”

Schools would identify their own hazards

The school board directed Superintendent Michelle Reid on Feb. 23, 2023, to develop a process for finding the campuses with the greatest safety risks.

That action followed several serious crashes involving students at busy intersections. In one case, a high school student was killed while accompanying her younger sibling to a bus stop in front of Barcroft View Apartments.

FCPS Chief Operating Officer Andy Mueck said work on a centralized assessment process began in February 2024. Central office employees tested the approach at Fairfax High School the following month, examining severe bus congestion and broader traffic-flow problems.

The trial helped staff improve the assessment, but it also showed how difficult it would be for a central team to perform detailed reviews at all 200 schools. According to Mueck, the Fairfax High School report required several weeks of work and multiple campus visits.

“It wasn’t the most smooth and efficient way to gain data and start to see trends,” he told the board.

The working group subsequently adopted a school-led model. Administrators and employees who see campus conditions daily would identify local concerns, while the central office would use their reports to detect patterns and direct assistance toward the most urgent problems.

Each October, a designated employee, such as a principal or safety officer, would oversee an electronic survey covering vehicle circulation, pedestrian conditions and crosswalk visibility. The results would be submitted to central staff for review and prioritization.

Mueck said employees based at each school understand details that a visiting central office team might miss during a handful of observations.

FCPS has also developed a “living” mitigation toolkit for problems schools may be able to resolve on their own. Its suggested measures include staggered drop-off times, carpool lanes and improved signs. More serious concerns would be elevated to the central office.

Board members question the added workload

Mason District Representative Ricardy Anderson said principals’ knowledge is essential, but she objected to assigning them a new duty without involving them earlier in the program’s development.

“I know their input is key, but I’m also concerned that they were not part of this conversation,” Anderson said. “It’s much easier for us to sit in central office and shift things around, but I think we have to really engage with the practitioners.”

Meren described the initiative as well-intentioned but said FCPS cannot solve every problem alone. Traffic enforcement and infrastructure outside school property require greater involvement from law enforcement and local and state governments, she said.

“In my view, the strategies presented here today are an effort to fill a void left vacant for too long by the county and the state,” Meren said.

She also pressed for a clear process to ensure problems reported by FCPS reach the appropriate government agencies and are ultimately fixed.

In response, Reid proposed a joint task force involving school administrators, law enforcement and local government officials. She said staff would outline a potential structure for that partnership in a Friday letter to the board, followed by further discussion about how it should be initiated.

Six schools will test the system

FCPS expects to select six schools for the pilot in the coming months. Employees at those campuses will receive training on a questionnaire and electronic reporting system used to document traffic and pedestrian concerns.

The trial is designed to expose gaps and allow staff to revise the process before expanding it. If successful, the program could reach every FCPS school during the 2025-2026 academic year, with assessments conducted annually.

School system leaders expect to update the board later this year. If the program proceeds countywide, a complete report on its results is scheduled for June 2026.