Students from Lanier Middle School in Fairfax spoke to the School Board about their environmental stewardship projects as part of a presentation surveying the Fairfax County Public Schools Get2Green program and School Environmental Action Showcase. Photo courtesy of Fairfax County Public Schools
To alleviate congestion and chaos at 165 of the 196 Fairfax County schools and centers that double as polling places, the Fairfax County Board of Elections requested the School Board look at delaying school two hours on March 1, 2016 for the presidential primary.
Though every year is an election year in Virginia, voter turnout typically spikes during a presidential election cycle.
The item came up during new business at the board’s Oct. 8 meeting and is scheduled to be voted on at the Oct. 22 business meeting. To implement the delay would require a revision to the 2015-2016 standard calendar, a release from Fairfax County Public Schools said.
A positive vote for the delay would reduce the total inclement weather days already incorporated in the calendar from 13 to 12.7.
In the only action item at the Oct. 8 meeting, the board members present voted unanimously in favor of an “expedited boundary adjustment” to balance enrollment between Freedom Hill Elementary School in Vienna and Vienna Elementary School, to take effect in Sept. 2016.
The adjustment involves reassigning a number of students from Freedom Hill to Vienna and thus entering the Madison High School pyramid. The change is meant to help with overcrowding and school efficiency, according to Virginia Code Section 22.1-79(4), and Policy 8130.7, Local School Boundaries, Program Assignments, and School Closings.