Fairfax County families interested in getting their children vaccinated against COVID-19 will have a variety of venues to choose from, but finding an available appointment may initially be challenging, the county health department said yesterday (Wednesday).

After months of anticipation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention formally authorized the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11 on Tuesday (Nov. 2), recommending a third of the dosage that everyone 12 and older has been able to receive since May.

Distribution of pediatric vaccinations is already underway, but operations will not reach full capacity until next week, according to the CDC.

With approximately 97,000 children now eligible, the Fairfax County Health Department anticipates “high interest” in the vaccine among families, Assistant Public Health Emergency Management Coordinator Colin Brody says.

“There may be a few days at the beginning where providers are still working to make appointments available in their systems,” Brody said. “However, we do not for see any major issues at this time and we believe all those who are seeking vaccine will be able to get it in the first few weeks.”

The county health department says it will receive about 80,000 doses for children over the next few weeks.

Initially, vaccinations will only be available to kids by appointment, but unlike with the original vaccine rollout, the county will not have a centralized registration system or waitlist.

Instead, appointments must be made with individual providers, including:

• FCHD mass vaccination sites — visit the Vaccine Administration Management System or call 703-324-7404
• Tysons Community Vaccination Center — use the Virginia Department of Health’s scheduling system or call 877-VAX-IN-VA (877-829-4682, TTY users call 711) for assistance in more than 100 languages
• Inova Health Systems, which is already scheduling appointments at its Center for Personalized Health in Merrifield

Doses are also being distributed to pediatric and family medicine providers, which can be contacted directly for scheduling, as well as pharmacies, grocery stores, and urgent care facilities, which will post appointments to vaccines.gov as they become available.

While some nearby jurisdictions like Arlington County have announced a specific date for when they will start offering pediatric vaccinations, FCHD just says in its blog post that the vaccine will be widely available in the community “in the coming days.”

The department says residents can make appointments as soon as they see openings.

“We did not want to wait until the weekend if some doctors/the CVC/or any other site already has the vaccine in supply and is ready to provide vaccinations sooner,” the FCHD said by email.

The county is also planning to host vaccination clinics at schools and community centers as part of its effort to ensure accessibility to all children.

Fairfax County Public Schools officials stated last month that school-based clinics for elementary school-aged students could be ready around mid-November, though further details — including the name of the third-party provider contracted to help administer the shots — have not been shared yet.

FCPS did not return a request for comment by press time.

The urgency of COVID-19 vaccinations for children has increased over the past few months, particularly with public schools resuming five days of in-person classes.

Children have experienced the highest rate of COVID-19 infection in the county since late August, according to FCHD Director Dr. Gloria Addo-Ayensu.

According to state data, 18,334 Fairfax Health District residents aged 19 and younger have contracted the novel coronavirus, though the district has reported just one death in that age group.

“While children are less likely to get serious disease than adults, some have been hospitalized and, like adults, suffering symptoms that can last for months,” said Addo-Ayensu. “Children with asymptomatic infections can spread the virus to other household members. For these reasons, we encourage parents and guardians to get their child[ren] vaccinated as soon as possible.”

Fairfax County’s work release program has been shuttered since March 2020 due to the pandemic. But when the transitional program restarts, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office is unsure how it will be able to manage it.

Faced with an uncharacteristically high vacancy rate of 11.4%, the sheriff’s office says it’s changing how it operates to make basic functions possible. The office is tasked with operating the detention center, providing security for the courthouse and courtrooms, and serving the civil law process.

“Whenever the health department recommends that we can safely restart work release, we need to evaluate if we have sufficient staff to actually restart it,” said Andrea Ceisler, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office.

To manage, the office has redeployed staff from other areas to the Adult Detention Center and eliminated assignments to specialized units like the fugitive task force and gang unit. Hiring is ongoing, but the number of applications has dipped.

“Even with mandatory overtime, our squads are short-staffed,” Ceisler said. She says the office is also turning down new requests to take part in programs by community groups and schools.

The order to shut down the work release program — which allows some inmates to work and take part in community programs as they transition out of incarceration — came from the Fairfax County Health Department. It’s unclear when it will restart, but the decision will be guided by when community transmission levels are reduced from substantial to moderate or low.

Over the last three years, the number of inmates enrolled in the county’s work-release program has decreased significantly.

In 2017, 112 inmates were enrolled and 44 successfully completed the remainder of their sentence while in the program. In 2019, just 48 inmates were enrolled, though 32 completed the remainder of their sentence.

Over the last 10 years, the need for more staff has also grown — particularly at the detention center.

Cell blocks that can house 20 inmates typically hold 10 inmates, a configuration that dramatically reduces the number of fights and encourages more compliance with rules. An increase in training — including crisis intervention and mental health first aid — also takes off staff from their line of work.

“Should the pandemic end, we will have to evaluate staffing in the Alternative Incarceration Branch where the staff-to-inmate ratio is much smaller for programs such as Work Release, the Community Labor Force and STAR, our addiction treatment and recovery program,” Ceisler said. “For the safety and security of our staff, inmates and the people who live and work in the county, sufficient staffing in the Adult Detention Center must remain a top priority.”

Public safety and law enforcement departments have reported high vacancy rates nationally. Staffing has declined for the past eight years, with 86% of departments across the country reporting a shortage last year.

Major Tamara Gold, the sheriff’s office assistant chief, told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors last month that the problem is expected to intensify in the coming months.

The office’s staff are paid between 2.5 and 7.5% less than equivalent positions in the Fairfax County Police Department. Many staff has left the office for employment with FCPD, which is grappling with its own staff shortage.

The sheriff’s office did resume its community labor force program earlier this year, where inmates work outdoors in crews of five under the supervision of an armed deputy sheriff. Crews complete landscaping, emergency snow removal, litter pick up, and other tasks.

Photo via Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook

While Democrats fared well in Fairfax County, sweeping the local delegate races, Virginia will return to a Republican governor with Glenn Youngkin after former Gov. Terry McAuliffe failed to replicate his 2013 victory.

McAuliffe conceded today (Wednesday), congratulating the governor-elect, thanking supporters, and stressing the need to improve Virginia.

The results are still unofficial and won’t be certified until Nov. 15. Ballots are still being counted too, though many news outlets, including the Associated Press, called the race last night.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay told FFXnow that the election results will not alter the pride that the county takes in its diversity or his commitment to the One Fairfax policy, which advocates for equity.

In a statement, McKay said he will “always fight for the interests of Fairfax County and will work with our statewide leaders to ensure we continue to have one of the best education systems in the country, provide high-quality services, prioritize public health and safety, and ensure Fairfax County is a place where everyone has access to opportunity and growth.”

The county’s lone Republican supervisor, Pat Herrity, who represents Springfield District, said it’s a good day for Fairfax County residents.

“I think this election marks the beginning of a movement to bring all Virginians together to focus on common sense solutions to everyday problems instead of partisan politics and rhetoric,” Herrity said in a statement. “This includes a new focus on public safety, our education system, the economy and the cost of government.”

Youngkin’s victory will have a direct effect on future Fairfax County elections.

State law dictates that two seats of the county’s three-member Electoral Board represent the political party that won the most recent gubernatorial race. The runner-up party gets the third seat. Board members serve three-year terms with one seat opening up each year.

The board’s duties include administering absentee ballots and conducting elections.

While voting in Fairfax County unfolded smoothly for the most part, technical issues led to a delay in reporting some results from in-person early voting.

Approximately 20,000 electronic ballots had to be re-scanned because thumb drives were corrupted and didn’t work, affecting four machines at voting sites, said Brian Worthy, a spokesperson with the Fairfax County Office of Elections.

“That’s why we have paper ballots,” he said, noting that the backups allowed the rescanning to occur.

Fairfax County Turnout for Democrats Weakens

Turnout in Fairfax County was nearly the same as the last gubernatorial race in 2017, when 56.1% of active voters cast a ballot. Unofficial results from Tuesday showed around 437,000 ballots cast out of over 780,000 registered voters, a 55.99% turnout, according to a county elections report.

While early voting was significant, influenced by a 2020 change in state law to allow no-excuse absentee voting, it failed to reach the level of turnout seen last year, when there was a presidential race on the ballot.

Support for McAuliffe from voters in Fairfax County, the state’s most populous area, was strong, but not quite as robust as it was for previous Democratic candidates, including in the last gubernatorial race and last year’s presidential election.

Fairfax County voters favored McAuliffe with 64.6% of the vote in this year’s general election, whereas they supported Joe Biden’s bid for the presidency in 2020 with a 69.4% majority. Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam won Fairfax County in 2017 with 66.5% of the vote.

Once the results are certified, Youngkin will be sworn in for his four-year term on Jan. 15.

Matt Blitz contributed to this report. 

About 40% of Fairfax County voters have now cast a ballot in Virginia’s 2021 general election, which will determine the next occupants of the governor’s mansion and the House of Delegates.

More than 170,000 of those ballots came in before Election Day, accounting for 23.3% of the county’s 730,300 active voters, according to the Fairfax County Office of Elections’ last early voting report.

The county registrar is anticipating a 50 to 60% total turnout for this election, Office of Elections spokesperson Brian Worthy confirmed.

With the introduction of no-excuse absentee voting last year, the county has seen a dramatic increase in early voting compared to the last gubernatorial election in 2017, resulting in fewer crowds and lines on Election Day itself.

The Office of Elections estimates that, as of 1:10 p.m., it has seen a nearly 18% turnout since polls opened at 6 a.m. today (Tuesday). Polling sites in different areas of the county reported steady but not overwhelming streams of voters showing up before noon.

We've now had an estimated turnout of 17.89% at polling places today. Combined with our previous 23% turnout from early votes already cast, we're at approximately 40% turnout overall in Fairfax County. Polls are open until 7 p.m.#VAGov #Vote #GOTV #Virginia pic.twitter.com/4JviKDMh7H

— Fairfax County Votes (@fairfaxvotes) November 2, 2021

Around 300 voters had passed through Reston Community Center’s Hunters Woods facility by 10:30 a.m., and Marshall High School in Idylwood saw over 600 voters before 11:30 a.m., according to elections officials at those precincts.

An elections chief at Coates Elementary School in Herndon told FFXnow that more than 500 people had voted there this morning. A volunteer suggested the rainy weather, which forecasts indicate will continue through the afternoon, could be affecting turnout.

One resident who stopped by Coates to vote with his daughter cited his desire to support local schools as a motivating factor, with a bond referendum that would enable Fairfax County Public Schools to spend $365 million on renovation projects on the ballot.

Kishore Sadala, who has lived near Coates Elementary for over a decade, said she wanted to vote out of a sense of civic duty.

After moving back to Virginia from Maryland to care for her parents, Indya Gordon says she felt it was important to vote due to the more unpredictable nature of Virginia’s elections, with this year’s gubernatorial contest expected to be a nail-biter.

“I think this is one of the most important elections of our time,” she said after voting at Coates Elementary School.

One of only two states with statewide offices on the ballot this year, Virginia is being treated as a bellwether for the national political mood and potential foreshadowing for next year’s Congressional mid-term elections by both Democrats and Republicans.

In addition to choosing either Terry McAuliffe or Glenn Youngkin as governor, voters are deciding the state’s next lieutenant governor, attorney general, and House of Delegates, where all 100 seats are up for election.

Polls remain open until 7 p.m.

The Fairfax County Office of Elections notes that results will be reported slightly differently than they have been in the past.

In accordance with a new state law, results from mail-in ballots will be released first, followed by early vote totals. The results will be updated throughout the night as precincts tally votes cast in-person on Election Day.

While the majority of votes are expected to be included in tonight’s unofficial results, mail-in absentee votes are accepted as long as they arrive by noon on Friday (Nov. 5), so the results will be incomplete.

In addition, the Office of Elections will only be reporting countywide vote totals for each candidate, rather than breaking the results down by precinct. Precinct-level results can be found instead through the Virginia Department of Elections.

“Because precinct level results are still available on the state’s website, we’re focusing on what most people are interested in: the total votes for each candidate — in other words, who’s won and lost,” Worthy said. “However you’ll also see the breakout for each candidate for early and mail-in votes.”

David Taube and Jay Westcott contributed to this report.

Today is a big election day for Virginia and Fairfax County, with the eyes of the nation on the Commonwealth as voters select a new governor and other state leaders.

Polls opened at 6 a.m. this morning and will close at 7 p.m. at 247 precincts across the county.

What’s on the Ballot

Voters will determine the state’s next governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general as well as all 100 delegates in the General Assembly. Fairfax County also has a school bond referendum.

Governor

• Terry McAuliffe (D)
• Glenn Youngkin (R)

Polls suggest a tight contest between McAuliffe and Youngkin, with a final survey by the marketing research firm Trafalger Group giving the Republican a very slight lead.

Lieutenant Governor

• Hala Ayala (D)
• Winsome Sears (R)

No matter who is elected, the winner will make history as the first woman of color to hold the second-highest office in the Commonwealth.

Attorney General

• Mark Herring (D)
• Jason Miyares (R)

Herring is vying for a third term, while Miyares could become the first Latino to hold the post in Virginia.

General Assembly

All 100 seats in Virginia’s House of Delegates are up for election, giving Republicans a chance to wrest control of the legislative chamber back from the Democrats.

In races covered by FFXnow sister sites Reston Now and Tysons Reporter, long-time incumbent Ken Plum (D) is being challenged by Matt Lang (R) to represent Reston in the 36th District. At one point this summer, Lang was outraising Plum, but that seems to no longer be the case.

In the 86th District, which runs from Chantilly through Herndon to Route 7, Irene Shin (D) is taking on Julie Perry (R) after ousting incumbent Ibraheem Samirah by just 230 votes in June. Perry is a high school history teacher who was accused of making anti-transgender remarks earlier this fall.

Incumbent Kathleen Murphy (D), first elected in 2015, is again being challenged by Gary Pan (R) in the 34th District, which contains Wolf Trap, Great Falls, McLean, and part of Loudoun County. This is a rematch from 2019, when Murphy won with about 58% of the vote.

While the 48th District is primarily in Arlington, it also includes southern McLean. There, incumbent Rip Sullivan (D) is being challenged for the first time since he was elected in 2014 by Republican nominee Edward Monroe (R).

Del. Mark Keam (D) is facing his first challenge in several years for the 35th District, including Vienna and part of Tysons. Republican nominee Kevin McGrath used to work for the CIA.

For City of Falls Church voters, the choice for the 53rd District’s next delegate comes between incumbent Marcus Simon (D) and restaurant manager Sarah White (R).

Other Fairfax County delegate races include:

• District 37: David Bulova (D), Kenny Meteiver (R)
• District 38: Kaye Kory (D), Tom Pafford (R)
• District 39: Vivian Watts (D), Maureen Brody (R)
• District 40: Dan Helmer (D), Harold Pyon (R)
• District 41: Eileen Filler-Corn (D), John Wolfe (R)
• District 42: Kathy Tran (D), Edward McGovern (R)
• District 43: Mark Sickles (D), Brenton Hammond (R)
• District 44: Paul Krizek (D), Richard Hayden (R)
• District 45: Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D), Justin Maddox (R)
• District 49: Alfonso Lopez (D), Timothy Kilcullen (R), Terry Modglin (I)
• District 67: Karrie Delaney (D), Bob Frizzelle (R)

A $360 million school bond is also on the ballot in Fairfax County. If voters approve it, the money will go towards the renovations of more than a dozen schools.

How to Vote

Go to the Virginia Department of Elections website to look up your polling place and a sample ballot. Voters must present an accepted form of identification, though photo proof is no longer required.

ExpressVote, a touchscreen system that the county has used for early voting since 2014, is available for those with disabilities but not for the general public today, Fairfax County Office of Elections spokesperson Brian Worthy says.

Masks are still required for voters and staff at polling places. However, those who are not wearing masks will still be able to vote, Worthy confirms.

The polls could seem less crowded today than previous years due to the increase in early voting, which kicked off on Sept. 17 and concluded on Saturday (Oct 30).

About 165,000 votes were cast early by mail or in-person, according to Worthy. That’s approximately 22.5% of the 730,000 active voters in Fairfax County.

It’s a high rate of early voting, Worthy says, though the county is still expecting turnout overall to be about 50% as initially predicted in September. The county elections office is preparing, however, for a potential turnout of 75%.

In 2017, Virginia’s last gubernatorial election, voter turnout was approximately 56%.

After a grim 2020, a more festive winter holiday season could be in store this year, as Fairfax County’s third COVID-19 wave continues to ebb.

The 57 new cases reported today (Monday) are the fewest that the Fairfax Health District has seen in a single day since July 27, when there were 52 new cases and the Delta variant was just starting to emerge locally.

The current weekly average of 83.3 cases is the lowest since July 31, when it was at 75.1 cases.

In fact, the county’s community transmission level has nearly dropped from substantial to moderate for the first time since Aug. 3. Virginia Department of Health data shows that the county saw 50.2 new cases for every 100,000 residents and a 2.3% testing positivity rate during the week of Oct. 24-30.

Using metrics recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, VDH defines moderate transmission as 10 to 49 cases per 100,000 people in the past seven days or a positivity rate of 5 to 8%.

The Fairfax Health District, which includes the cities of Falls Church and Fairfax, has recorded a total of 93,373 cases of the novel coronavirus, which has hospitalized 4,373 residents and killed 1,213, according to the Fairfax County Health Department.

Further fueling hope of a relatively risk-free winter is the promise that children could become eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations as soon as this week.

The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization allowing children ages 5 to 11 to get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Friday (Oct. 29), stating that smaller doses than the ones given to adolescents and adults have proven to be safe and effective for the younger age group.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to vote on recommendations for pediatric vaccinations tomorrow (Tuesday). Appointments for kids could become available as soon as the CDC gives its approval, according to VDH, which says it has been planning its rollout for months.

“There’s light at the end of this pandemic tunnel sooner rather than later,” Virginia state vaccination liaison Dr. Danny Avula said last week in a statement.

The Fairfax County Health Department says vaccinations will be available through its clinics, pediatric and family medical practices, local pharmacies, and the Tysons Community Vaccination Center for the approximately 97,000 children expected to become eligible in the Fairfax Health District.

In the meantime, the district hit a new vaccination milestone today, with 70.1% of all residents now having received at least one dose — a total of 830,017 people. That includes 82.9% of individuals 18 and older.

757,568 residents — 75.9% of adults and 64% of the total population — are fully vaccinated.

According to VDH, 9.2% of Fairfax County residents have gotten booster shots, which are now available to many adults. The county health department is encouraging people who are eligible to get a booster ahead of the holidays, noting that providers may get busy once vaccines roll out to children.

Waters from the Potomac River could spill over into Fairfax County, with the D.C. area expected to get almost nonstop rain tomorrow (Friday), the National Weather Service warns.

A Coastal Flood Warning will be in place for Northern Virginia, including Fairfax County, starting at 6 p.m. today (Thursday) until 8 a.m. Saturday (Oct. 30).

According to the NWS, showers and thunderstorms from the Midwest are moving east and could bring 1 to 2 inches of rain, along with the risk of flash flooding along the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay.

Here is more from the NWS alert:

…COASTAL FLOOD WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 8 AM EDT SATURDAY…

* WHAT…Two to four feet of inundation above ground level possible in low lying areas.

* WHERE…Prince William/Manassas/Manassas Park, Fairfax and Stafford Counties.

* WHEN…From 6 PM this evening to 8 AM EDT Saturday, especially around the time of high tide.

* IMPACTS…Numerous roads may be closed. Low lying property including homes, businesses, and some critical infrastructure will be inundated. Some shoreline erosion will occur.

The NWS has also issued a Flood Watch that will be in effect from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow, with rainfall potentially reaching 2 to 4 inches in some areas.

“Heavy amounts of rain will cause creeks and streams to slowly rise, possibly out of their banks as well as the potential for flooding in urban areas,” the NWS said.

Several Coastal Flood Warnings have been issued along the Chesapeake Bay and Tidal Potomac River. Water levels are already on the rise and will only rise more throughout the day today and into Friday. Tidal inundation levels of 2-4 feet are expected in low-lying coastal areas. pic.twitter.com/dObvOQdto8

— NWS Baltimore-Washington (@NWS_BaltWash) October 28, 2021

The Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management says the risk of rain will likely arrive in the county around midnight to 2 a.m. Friday, echoing the Fire and Rescue Department’s warning that flooding may lead to road closures.

“Low lying property, including homes, businesses and some critical infrastructure, may be inundated,” OEM said in a blog post. “Take the necessary actions to protect flood-prone property. If travel is required, do not drive around barricades or through water of unknown depth.”

The office also advised keeping children away from creeks or other bodies of water that may rise rapidly, and clearing leaves and other debris from downspouts and storm drains.

[10/28 at 8:35 AM] A Coastal Flood Warning will be in effect at 6 PM this evening to 8 AM Saturday.
2-4 feet of inundation above ground level possible in low lying areas
Numerous roads may be closed
Flooding will be the worst around high tide#TurnAroundDontDrown #VaWx pic.twitter.com/LDW8LfA8pw

— Ready Fairfax (@ReadyFairfax) October 28, 2021

The Fairfax County Police Department is grappling with high levels of understaffing and attrition, a problem that law enforcement officials warn could intensify in the coming months.

During a public safety committee with the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday (Oct. 26), officials said understaffing and retention are impacting the entire public safety sector, including the Fire and Rescue Department, 9/11 call centers, and the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office.

“The FCPD is experiencing an unparalleled level of staffing shortages within its workforce,” FCPD Capt. Rachel Levy said, adding that the issue could become “an insurmountable task” for the agency to overcome if left unaddressed.

FCPD has 144 vacancies in its 1,484 authorized sworn force — a vacancy rate of nearly 10%. Currently, some officers work voluntary overtime. Others are pulled from special positions like neighborhood patrols and community outreach to fill gaps in shifts.

That’s despite undertaking what Levy described as an “unprecedented effort” for recruitment. This year, the police department hosted 109 recruitment events and initiatives, up from 54 in 2018.

Board members acknowledged that the county needs to increase the applicant pool, attract a higher number of qualified candidates, streamline the hiring process, and increase retention.

The missing piece — compensation — remains unaddressed. Lee District Supervisor Rodney Lusk, who chairs the public safety committee, called lack of competitive pay the “elephant in the room.”

Deputy Chief of Police Bob Blakley said the police department needs to be able to compete aggressively with other police departments to attract every candidate considering a career in law enforcement.

He says FCPD needs to double the number of officers it hires every year and slow attrition by encouraging officers near the 25-year retirement mark to stay for a few more years.

Blakley pointed to a recent 15% pay increase instituted through a collective bargaining agreement by the Prince George’s County Police Department in Maryland as a good example of competitive pay.

“We will never be able to compete with organizations that are going to just leave us in the dust. And [if] we’re going to be the best, we need to be the best,” he said.

Lusk said the board will work with its budget and personnel committees to determine next steps, including whether compensation increases are warranted.

FCPD did not immediately share its pay scale.

The issue of understaffing was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to board chairman Jeff McKay.

“Already, people are thinking if they want to work the same way they did,” he said, adding that he supports collective hiring and pay increases for public safety personnel.

The police officer shortage in the United States predates recent calls to “defund” the police, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. In fact, staffing has declined for the past eight years, with 86% of departments across the country reporting a shortage last year.

While the pandemic and anti-police sentiment have intensified issues, the shortage stems from staffing boosts granted by the federal government between 1996 and 2002. Hundreds of those positions are now eligible for full retirement, though some were eliminated through attrition during the economic downturn between 2008 and 2012.

This year, 27 Fairfax County police officers are expected to retire. Next year, an additional 48 will become eligible. The number continues to climb each year with not enough new recruits to fill in shoes.

Applications for the county’s police academy are down from 4,121 in 2015 to 1,450 as of last year.

Unlike previous years, Blakley said some officers who have been in the force for years are leaving for other careers like information technology.

Lusk suggested the county could bolster public safety recruitment efforts by improving the online hiring process.

The county sheriff’s office is facing similar issues, prompting it to eliminate some work-release programs to free up staff for other services. Further reductions may be needed in the future, officials say.

“We just can’t keep up with departures,” said Major Tamara Gold, sheriff’s office assistant chief. The office loses some of its staff to the police department, which offers between 2.5% and 7.5% more pay.

The Department of Public Safety Communications has started aggressively recruiting at the high school level. The department’s priority is ensuring its 911 call center is fully staffed, Assistant Director Lorraine Fells-Danzer said.

Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity said legislation that he called “anti-law enforcement” — like the Police Civilian Review Panel  — is deterring people from becoming police officers.

“What I haven’t heard today is our plan…moving forward,” he said.

Fairfax County Public Schools and the Fairfax County Public Library are recipients of federal funding to help provide internet access and necessary devices for students, school staff and library patrons.

Announced on Tuesday (Oct. 26) by Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, the funding comes from the Federal Communications Commission’s Emergency Connectivity Fund Program to help close the “homework gap” for students who lack internet access.

The county’s library system will receive $41,330 and the school district will receive $17.9 million from the $7.17 billion program, which gives nearly $50 million to Virginia overall. The program was created by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which was authorized by Congress earlier this year.

“We’re proud to see these federal dollars go toward keeping Virginia’s communities connected,” Warner and Kaine said in their joint statement. “This investment will help close the digital divide, while improving access to job opportunities and educational resources for Virginians as we continue to recover from the impacts of COVID-19.”

The funding is intended to help public schools and libraries support remote learning by reimbursing them with up to $400 for each laptop or tablet and $250 for Wi-Fi hotspots, a spokesperson for Kaine told FFXnow.

Other eligible equipment covered by this funding include modems, routers, and devices that combine routers and modems.

Schools and libraries may purchase more expensive devices or Wi-Fi hotspots with their program funds, but they will only be reimbursed for the aforementioned amounts.

Recipients can also use the funding to provide commercially available broadband service with a fixed or mobile connection off-campus for students, school staff, or library patrons. The administrating company for the program, Universal Service Administrative Company, will review costs and applications for other eligible equipment and services.

Funding has been issued in three waves since late September, with the latest round getting distributed this week. However, the schools and libraries ultimately control the timeline for carrying out purchase agreements with internet providers and vendors.

An FCPS spokesperson deferred comment to state officials because the program is in its early stages. Fairfax County Public Library did not return a request for comment by press time.

While broadband access is less of an issue in Fairfax County than in other parts of the state and country, 4% of households still have no internet, county staff reported in June. Access is uneven across the county, ranging from 1.4% of households lacking internet in Springfield District to 8.9% of households in Mason District.

Even with FCPS back to five days of in-person learning, internet access remains critical for students, particularly with some having to stay out of class due to COVID-19 contact tracing and quarantining procedures.

Since Sept. 1, FCPS has quarantined 3,942 students because they were identified as close contacts of someone who tested positive for COVID-19, according to the school system’s quarantine data dashboard. That does not include students who have had to pause in-person learning for contact-tracing purposes.

Photo via Annie Spratt/Unsplash

Following the collapse of a 40-year-old high-rise in Surfside, Fla., officials in Fairfax County and across the country are looking to prevent a similar tragedy.

“Anything we can do to prevent such a [tragedy] from happening again, we want to do,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said yesterday (Tuesday) during a Land Use Policy Committee meeting.

County staff have identified 202 high-rises in the area that are at least 25 years or older, including 100 that are 25-30 years old, 41 that are 30-35 years old, and 46 that are 40 years old or more.

At nearly 50%, the biggest concentration of high-rises in Fairfax County is in Providence District, Fairfax County Department of Land Development Services Director Bill Hicks told the board. Those buildings were defined as being at least 75 feet or higher.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously directed staff on July 13 to assess the availability of resources for inspections and other options for improving the safety of aging buildings after the June 24 partial collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside.

For the Surfside condominium, a 2018 engineering report had warned of major structural damage. The 12-story building’s collapse killed 98 people.

In his joint board matter with Sully District Supervisor Kathy Smith from the July 13 meeting, McKay noted that Virginia lacks a recertification program for older buildings.

While buildings must undergo numerous inspections, reviews, and more to get an initial certificate of occupancy, they are only inspected again if there is a change in occupancy or alterations that require inspection, the City of Alexandria said in July when urging Virginia to update its regulations.

Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson raised the issue in the wake of the Surfside collapse, stating that the city has “most of the residential high-rise buildings” in the Commonwealth. The River Towers Condominium in Alexandria evacuated amid structural damage in 2016.

Like other local governments, Fairfax County has a complaint-driven code compliance system intended to address potentially unsafe building conditions.

“My concern is in a lot of these buildings, not only would people not necessarily know who to complain to, but if they did complain, they’d probably complain to the management or the rental office or the condo association, maybe not necessarily to the county,” McKay said.

The county’s website explains how people can contact staff by phone, email, and complaint forms to address issues.

But the board stressed that it wants county workers to provide proactive outreach, such as by having the county’s fire marshal office communicate with a property manager or homeowners’ association leaders.

“We can at least convey broader safety issues that maybe they hadn’t thought about, and it’s a good way of reminding them,” Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck said.

McKay suggested newer buildings might have different outreach approaches than older buildings, adding that the county’s review was not to raise alarm, but to help share county resources with residents.

Hicks told the board that the Department of Code Compliance will begin tracking cases that might be associated with an aging building.

“They track all of their work now, but they would categorize them so they would look for these sorts of requests,” Hicks said, noting that the county could also add more staff to assist with inspections.

The county chose the 25-year threshold for buildings to review to provide a level of comparison, Hicks said after the meeting. The age range was not meant to represent a program for building recertification or anything related to structural durability.

According to Hicks, Miami-Dade’s building recertification program, which covers Surfside, focuses on buildings that have reached 40 years, and other than one in nearby Broward County, it was the only such program that county staff could find across the country that’s currently active.

A program in Los Angeles is “forthcoming,” according to the presentation to the board.

The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology is investigating the collapse of Champlain Towers South. According to spokesperson Jennifer Huergo, a final report could take years to complete.