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Fairfax County Public Schools entered February celebrating two graduates competing for Team USA, advancing plans for twice-exceptional students and preparing for key Fiscal Year 2027 budget discussions.
Superintendent Michelle Reid also announced a divisionwide tropical beachwear spirit day for Thursday, February 19, encouraging students, teachers and staff to bring some warmth and color to the winter season.
Two FCPS alumni are representing the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. Ilia Malinin, a Vienna resident and 2023 Marshall High School graduate, is making his Olympic figure-skating debut after serving as an alternate for the 2022 Beijing Games. Nicknamed “The Quad God,” Malinin has landed a record six quadruple jumps in competition, including the quadruple axel.
Brandon Kim, a 2020 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, is competing in short-track speedskating. Kim won bronze at the World Junior Short Track Speedskating Championships while he was a junior at TJHSST and later represented the United States at two world championships.
FCPS is also expanding access to a sport headed for the Olympic stage. Girls flag football, which will debut at the 2028 Summer Olympics, is now offered by the school division through a partnership with the Washington Commanders. The sport’s growth has also created more college scholarship opportunities.
Elsewhere in the division, Area 4 Transportation Office operations manager Rachelle Wigenton responded to an early-morning water main break at Marshall Road Elementary School. She quickly relocated buses to limit possible damage and maintain service as the transportation team prepared for its first day back following snow recovery.
Reid’s school visits during the week included Falls Church High School, Columbia Elementary School and Poe Middle School on Tuesday. On Wednesday, she visited Ravensworth, Parklawn and Glen Forest elementary schools. Parklawn students were developing plans for outdoor environments that incorporated water sources.
The Superintendent’s Advisory Group on Twice-Exceptional Programming also met Tuesday at the Gatehouse Administration Center. Members reviewed current initiatives and worked to finalize a protocol for student focus groups scheduled to begin in February.
Information from those sessions, together with other measurements, will guide future efforts to create more inclusive, accessible and engaging learning environments for twice-exceptional students. The work supports the academic inclusion and engagement objectives in Goal 2 of the 2023-30 Strategic Plan.
On Wednesday, the Quad 3 Family Vision Group met at Oak View Elementary School. Parents and caregivers discussed report cards, the volunteer management system and the budget-development process.
The week included several arts, athletics and community events. Reid attended Monday’s varsity girls basketball game between Lewis and Edison high schools, where the Lewis cheer team hosted a camp for younger cheerleaders. She later attended a fourth-grade strings concert at Centreville Elementary School, a girls basketball game between Westfield and Oakton high schools and a spelling bee at Sunrise Valley Elementary School.
Early Saturday, Lake Braddock Secondary School hosted an instructional job fair, giving school leaders an opportunity to meet prospective educators interested in joining the division.
Attention now turns to the proposed FY 2027 budget. A School Board work session is scheduled for Tuesday, February 10, from 2 to 5:30 p.m. A public hearing will begin at 6:30 p.m. that evening in the Jackson Middle School auditorium, with doors opening at 5:45 p.m.
A second hearing could be held Wednesday, February 11, depending on how many community members register to speak. Proposed budget priorities include competitive compensation, beginning to restore reductions made during the previous fiscal year and continuing multiyear initiatives.