Article Text
Fairfax County Public Schools advanced two major initiatives during a week filled with winter preparations, student achievements and community events: a proposed $4.1 billion budget and the approval of divisionwide boundary changes affecting about 1,700 students.
Ahead of the approaching winter storm, FCPS closed its facilities and prepared custodial, grounds, facilities and transportation teams to clear school property, monitor roads and tend to buses when conditions allowed. The school system also directed families to its website and mobile app for weather updates, emergency contacts, power-outage tracking and information from Fairfax County and the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology student Aashritha Penumudi was named one of 40 finalists in the 2026 Regeneron Science Talent Search, selected from 300 scholars. Her project examines the structural basis of ribosome stalling involving AMD1 and cellular arresting peptides.
Penumudi will receive at least $25,000 and travel to Washington, D.C., in March for final judging, a public presentation and meetings with scientists. The competition’s top award is $250,000.
A Thomas Jefferson team was also among 60 selected for the NASA TechRise Student Challenge. Its G.A.L.A.C.T.I.C. experiment will study how microgravity changes the resonance and energy dissipation of materials that simulate catheters and other tubing used in aerospace medicine. Students plan to test polyurethane, silicone and Ecoflex during a suborbital flight scheduled for May.
Nearly 800 people participated in Volunteer Fairfax’s 2026 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday. Volunteers, including FCPS students, packed more than 300 food kits through Educate Fairfax for students experiencing food insecurity. The kits were delivered to schools before the anticipated snow days.
On Tuesday, FCPS held a West Springfield High School pyramid community meeting at Irving Middle School to discuss proposed boundary changes. A Family Vision Group meeting followed Wednesday at Shrevewood Elementary School, where Quad 2 families discussed report cards, the volunteer management system and budget development.
Proposed budget prioritizes pay and restored positions
The superintendent presented the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget during Thursday’s School Board meeting. The $4.1 billion plan represents a $197 million, or 5%, increase over the approved fiscal year 2026 budget.
FCPS is requesting an additional $138.4 million from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, a 5.1% increase over the current transfer. That requested increase is 48% smaller than the increase sought the previous year and closely follows the fiscal forecast presented to county and school officials in fall 2025.
Competitive compensation is one of the proposal’s central priorities. The plan would fund increases contained in collective bargaining agreements with the Fairfax Education Unions and the Fairfax County Federation of Principals, Supervisors and Administrators.
FCPS said its starting salary for teachers on the master’s-degree lane rose from seventh to second among eight neighboring school divisions between fiscal years 2024 and 2026. Employee retention has exceeded 90% during the past two years.
The proposal would also begin reversing reductions made in the previous fiscal year. It fully restores special education department chair positions and Advanced Academic Resource Teacher positions at non-Title I schools while partially restoring class sizes across elementary, middle and high schools.
Other continuing investments include certified athletic trainers at every high school, family liaisons, fine and performing arts stipends, student athletics and activities, K-12 robotics, and math certification and credentialing for educators.
The School Board is scheduled to discuss the proposal at a Feb. 10 work session.
Boundary changes will affect 1,700 students
The School Board also approved the superintendent’s recommended boundary adjustments following FCPS’ first divisionwide school-boundary review in more than 40 years.
The changes will affect 859 elementary students, 364 middle school students and 475 high school students. They are scheduled to take effect during the 2026-27 school year.
The approval followed an 18-month review that included nearly 50 community meetings. FCPS employees provided planning, analysis, technical assistance, facilitation and translation, while thousands of families and community members submitted feedback. The Superintendent’s Boundary Review Advisory Committee also helped shape the draft scenarios and final recommendation.
During the meeting, FCPS provided a separate update on transportation safety and technology. The school system has 1,850 drivers and support personnel and transports 131,931 students each day using 1,398 buses across more than 391 square miles.
Its network includes 45,000 bus stops, and vehicles travel 16,877,288 miles annually. FCPS buses use cameras, GPS-equipped tablets, the Here Comes the Bus app and a delay-notification system. The division is also emphasizing relationship-building in driver training and using student safety patrols to improve communication.
Officials reminded students to take devices and learning materials home before the storm but said FCPS was not moving to remote instruction and continued to recognize the importance of traditional snow days.
The superintendent also added Skyview High School to the recommended names for the new high school planned in western Fairfax County. The addition followed student advocacy and concerns about confusion with abbreviations used by existing schools. The School Board is expected to consider the updated options.
Schools celebrate service and the arts
On Friday, Sandburg Middle School instructional assistant Jae Lemeshewsky, known as Ms. L, received the FCPS CARES of the Quarter award. She is known for welcoming new employees with a potted plant and a $2 bill, a tradition representing growth and good fortune.
Lemeshewsky has also taught gymnastics at the Mount Vernon Recreation Center for more than 12 years and donates her earnings to the Fairfax County Park Foundation to support youth programs and equipment.
Students took the stage throughout the weekend. The South Lakes High School chorus performed songs adapted from books during its Broadway Night on Friday. On Saturday, students in grades four through 12 from across the Herndon pyramid participated in Herndon High School’s annual cabaret, “Broadway Baddies,” featuring Broadway villains and divas.
FCPS students and employees also joined the Special Olympics Polar Plunge on Saturday. Annandale High School was the top fundraising team, collecting more than $11,000 for its program and Special Olympics Virginia. Students and staff from Annandale High School and Bull Run Elementary School were among those represented at a reception before the plunge.