Fairfax County businesses added nearly 9,000 jobs over the course of 2021, even with the uncertain environment created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the county’s economic development authority says.

According to a press release, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority worked with 146 businesses that added a total of 8,973 jobs to the Fairfax County economy.

The businesses came from a variety of sectors, from manufacturing and real estate to information technology and cybersecurity. They were also spread out throughout the county, including Chantilly, Reston, Fairfax, Tysons, and Herndon.

Of the 146 businesses that reported job growth, 14 were newcomers that the FCEDA had courted to come to Fairfax County. Many were attracted not just from other areas of the U.S., but from other countries.

The seafood company Starkist, which is owned by Korean-based Dongwon Group, is relocating its headquarters from Pittsburgh to Reston Town Center. Other examples include the Canadian-based Brookfield Residential Properties and Israeli aerospace and defense company D-Fend Solutions.

According to data provided by the authority, the sector that saw the most growth was information technology services, which accounted for 2,648 new jobs, or 29.5% of the new positions in the county.

Much of that growth came courtesy of Herndon-based Peraton, which added 1,200 positions in 2021. The contractor announced plans in December to move its corporate headquarters to Reston Town Center.

“We would be proud to announce almost 9,000 jobs in any new year,” FCEDA President and CEO Victor Hoskins stated in the press release. “But very few communities can claim the kind of diversity that we have in our business community.”

FCEDA also touted that 25 of the American companies that came to the county are owned by women, minorities, or veterans.

Those businesses were found mainly in the information technology sector and include the Fairfax-based Kreative Technologies, which created 296 jobs, and Tysons-based Alpha Omega Integration, which created 154 jobs.

The nonprofit Community Foundation of Northern Virginia released a report in June 2021 showing that minority-owned businesses in Fairfax County have suffered more acutely than white-owned businesses during the pandemic.

The report stated that while the number of minority-owned businesses remained flat, revenue and staffing dramatically decreased, while unemployment insurance claims rose.

Fairfax County has worked to support local businesses during the pandemic by distributing federal relief funds through a series of grant programs, including the Fairfax RISE initiative that distributed more than $52 million in 2020 — 72% of which went to minority, women, or veteran-owned businesses.

The county awarded $16.8 million in grants last year with its PIVOT program, which focused on small businesses and the hospitality industry.

The FCEDA has been hosting virtual job fairs and other events to connect employers with workers as part of its Work in Northern Virginia initiative.

The COVID-19 testing site at the Fairfax County Government Center has closed less than a month after its launch.

The Virginia Department of Health shut down the Community Testing Center yesterday (Wednesday) as part of a statewide shift away from mass test sites in favor of a mobile “CTC+” initiative focused on communities with accessibility barriers.

“As the community response has decreased at the large-tent, fixed testing sites, the Virginia Department of Health is transitioning to a flexible response where the testing van can be moved and located in areas with low access to testing,” VDH COVID-19 Testing Co-Lead Suzie Trotter said by email.

The Fairfax County CTC opened on Jan. 15 in response to the omicron variant’s arrival in December, which pushed local Covid caseloads to record heights and triggered soaring demand for testing that strained limited supplies.

Trotter says the number of tests conducted at VDH’s nine CTCs “dropped off significantly over the past week,” as the latest surge in the pandemic has started to recede. The supply shortage has also eased with an increased availability of testing kits through pharmacies and other retail sites, along with the launch of a federal program that mails free at-home kits.

The Fairfax CTC conducted tests for 4,394 people over its 19 days of operations, according to Trotter, who says the closure date was determined far enough in advance to cut off appointments.

“VDH has a role to continue to support the safety net and support testing to those that either have difficulty getting to a test site or have low access to testing in their community,” Trotter said. “Mobile vans will allow access to testing in areas that have never had the opportunity to have testing nearby.”

Set to begin operations on Tuesday (Feb. 15), the CTC+ initiative consists of vans that will travel to different locations with no-cost PCR diagnostic tests based on community need, as requested by local health departments.

There will be just one van to serve the entire Northern Virginia region, but Trotter says it will “maintain a weekly presence” in the Fairfax Health District, though an official schedule has not been determined yet.

The Fairfax County Health Department will evaluate a variety of factors when choosing testing sites, such as case levels and positivity rates, the availability of existing testing resources, and accessibility, spokesperson Lucy Caldwell told FFXnow.

“This resource joins other FCHD testing resources that will continue to target communities most in need of testing,” Caldwell said by email.

Other testing options include health care providers, retail pharmacies, and FCHD clinics. The county has also restarted its mobile laboratory, which tests people with symptoms and is next scheduled to appear at the Safeway at Engleside Plaza in Mount Vernon.

Planning is underway for a memorial to commemorate Fairfax County’s COVID-19 victims and the impact of the pandemic.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeffrey McKay said at a meeting on Tuesday (Feb. 8) that his office has been working with county team on the creation of a memorial.

The board approved the proposal to direct staff from Facilities Management, the Park Authority and other agencies to put together, by May 1, a cost estimate, timeline and design options for a memorial to be built on county or park property.

“We started this conversation early on and staff is well on their way to bringing back some formal recommendations on a creative way that we can permanently recognize the loss of life, but also all the personal sacrifices people in and throughout this county and region have made over the last two years,” McKay said.

McKay recalled joining public health officials on March 7, 2020 to announce the first presumptive COVID-19 case in Virginia, now 23 months ago to the day of the board meeting.

“Since that time, as we know, life has not been the same,” he said.

In his board matter, he discussed how residents have embraced vaccinations, masking, physical distancing, testing, and quarantine to protect themselves and the community.

As of Feb. 1, more than 80.0% of all Fairfax County residents have received at least one vaccine dose and there are more than 300 vaccination sites across the county. Our school age kids who have received at least one vaccine dose include: 46.7% of children 5-11 years, 90.1% of those 12-15, and 94.6% of those age 16-17 years.

While this is great positive progress, we all know we still feel the impact of the significant loss of life our community has experienced throughout the pandemic. There have been more than 170,000 COVID-19 cases within the Fairfax Health District. Sadly, this has resulted in more than 4,400 hospitalizations and 1,284 deaths.

Fairfax County has seen a decline in Covid cases over the past few weeks since the omicron variant fueled a spike around Christmas.

As of yesterday, the Fairfax Health District, which includes the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, has recorded a total of 173,393 cases, 4,401 hospitalizations, and 1,344 deaths.

McKay emphasized that he wanted the county to do something permanent to memorialize the last two years.

“I want to make sure that we don’t forget ever the lives of so many people in Fairfax County who passed away as a result of Covid, especially those very early on, when we were still learning about the importance of so many of the safety measures and the importance of vaccinations, that didn’t get a chance to even do those right things that I mentioned in my Board Matter and sadly perished,” he said.

Updated at 2:20 p.m. — Senate Bill 739 passed 21-17, with Fairfax County Sens. Janet Howell, Dick Saslaw, and Scott Surovell joining the opponents after supporting the amendment to allow parents to opt out of school mask requirements yesterday.

Earlier: Fairfax County Public Schools’ universal masking policy has encountered pushback from an unexpected source: its own state legislators.

Led by Sen. Chap Petersen (34th District), multiple Democratic senators representing Fairfax County joined Republicans (yesterday) to pass a bill amendment that would let parents opt their children out of school mask requirements, undercutting the still-undecided lawsuit filed by FCPS and six other local school boards.

The amendment is part of Senate Bill 739, which requires schools to provide in-person instruction. Petersen and chief sponsor Republican Siobhan Dunnavant (Henrico County) got a similar bill adopted last year, but this version contains no mention of mitigating the spread of COVID-19.

The full bill is being debated by the Senate this afternoon (Wednesday).

“Childhood is a moment. You turn around and it’s gone. A child grows up, and when a child loses two years to this, not based on science…but on somebody’s construction of science, that’s a tragedy,” Petersen said after calling mask requirements “a violation of the First Amendment” for “forcing [families] to adopt a statement that they or their family don’t believe in.”

If approved by the Republican-controlled House of Delegates, the measure would turn Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s much-debated executive order into law. As written, it wouldn’t take effect until July 1, but the governor could potentially add an emergency clause to get it implemented by the end of February, according to The Washington Post.

FCPS reiterated its belief that universal masking remains necessary in a statement to FFXnow, noting that Fairfax County is still seeing a high level of Covid transmission in the community, even after a significant decline in cases over the past month.

“We recognize we are all tired of COVID-related health measures, but choosing a random date to stop that is not supported by science is not the way to keep our students and staff safe, nor our schools open for in-person learning,” FCPS said. “A roll back of any of our layered prevention measures needs to be in line with community transmission data and in line with health and scientific recommendations.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommends universal masking, a stance shared by local health officials, according to FCPS.

Petersen told FFXnow that he has been talking to FCPS for the past year but expressed frustration that the school system hasn’t set a deadline for lifting its mask requirement or “shown scientific proof” that it has made a difference in limiting Covid’s spread.

County health officials explained at a virtual town hall last month that, while there are variables based on the kind of mask and how well it fits, the vast majority of evidence indicates that masks work and are most effective when worn by everyone.

“We are working with health experts to determine a safe and effective plan to scale back when it is appropriate to do so,” FCPS said. “FCPS will continue, as it has since this pandemic began, to prioritize the health and safety of all students and staff above politics and political expediency.”

Petersen says he agrees with Youngkin that face masks should be optional in schools, but he believes the decision should be made by the legislature, not the governor.

“People that want to move on [from Covid restrictions] and let kids live normal lives support it,” he told FFXnow, declining to comment on the split within Fairfax County’s Senate delegation.

Petersen’s amendment was approved 29-9, with Sens. Janet Howell, Dick Saslaw, and Scott Surovell among the supporters. George Barker, Jennifer Boysko, Barbara Favola, and Dave Marsden voted against the measure.

Howell’s office told FFXnow that she was unavailable to comment on the vote, while Saslaw did not return a request for comment by publication time.

Surovell told The Washington Post that he supported the amendment in part on the assumption that it would not take effect until July.

In an email sent to FFXnow at 10:10 p.m. yesterday, Boysko said she had been “on the phone all night with constituents and school board members who are upset about the amendment.”

“They want to be able to follow scientific data to make decisions that will protect students, school staff members and all of their families,” she wrote. “This should not be a political issue but one based in CDC guidance and would allow school boards the autonomy to look holistically to make decisions that would best suit their communities.”

Photo via Waldemar Brandt/Unsplash

Fairfax County Public Schools intends to prohibit guns from all properties that it owns or leases amid heightened concerns about the safety of students, staff, and elected officials.

The Fairfax County School Board agreed unanimously at a work session yesterday (Tuesday) to direct Superintendent Scott Brabrand and his staff to develop a draft policy for its governance committee to consider at its March 1 meeting.

Firearms are already banned from public and private school grounds in Virginia, but this policy would take advantage of a measure approved by the General Assembly in 2021 giving local school boards the authority to also designate administrative buildings as “gun-free zones.”

Laura Jane Cohen, who represents Springfield District on the school board, proposed adopting the ban with Providence District Representative Karl Frisch, saying at the work session that she believes it should “happen sooner rather than later” in light of “some of the threats many of us have gotten.”

“We’ve seen a huge uptick in the last year and a half of people who are targeting elected officials and threatening violence,” Cohen told FFXnow. “So, that’s certainly part of the impetus, to make sure that people are not allowed to bring firearms into the places where we’re having our meetings.”

While narrow in scope, the potential ban would include the Gatehouse Administration Center, which houses FCPS central offices and other facilities used by the school board and division staff.

Public school officials across the country have reported encountering increased hostility over the past couple of years, as topics like pandemic-related health protocols and critical race theory have become hot-button political issues.

The Justice Department moved in October to create a task force focused on threats of violence against school boards and administrators.

Cohen is one of five Fairfax County School Board members targeted for recall over the decision to close schools for much of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, but she doesn’t believe the threats she’s received are related to that campaign.

“It seems to really span the gamut…CRT or masks or…any number of things, just the fact that there are Democrats on the board,” Cohen said, noting that she often sees an uptick in harassment whenever she expresses support for the LGBTQ community or discusses gun violence prevention.

She says the threats have come over email, social media, voicemail, and even by letter. Most of them get sent to the FCPS Safety and Security Office, though a few have risen to the level of getting reported to the police.

“I wouldn’t say I’m by any means the only board member targeted, but it’s definitely made a real impact in my life and my family’s lives for sure,” she said.

The proposed gun prohibition is similar to an ordinance that Fairfax County adopted in 2020 after the General Assembly granted local governments the option to ban the possession of firearms on their public properties.

In accordance with state law, the policy will have exceptions for current and “qualified” retired law enforcement officers.

The school board also directed Brabrand and his staff to evaluate FCPS’ curriculum, safety protocols, and professional development practices related to gun violence and suicide prevention, building off of an effort to notify families about Virginia’s secure firearm storage laws.

Board members said a review is needed to ensure the school system’s security threat assessments, staff training on procedures for reporting concerns, and other policies are updated and effective in the wake of surging gun violence in schools, citing the Nov. 30 school shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan as a relevant example.

“It’s always been an issue, but it is frankly coming back to the top of the list of concerns in our community,” Brabrand said. “What can we do beyond what we’ve done in the years past to be more proactive in getting the awareness out to families and students?”

While the fight over masks has dominated headlines, Fairfax County Public Schools faces another potential courtroom battle over its quarantine policy for students exposed to someone who tests positive for COVID-19.

The parents of two Sunrise Valley Elementary School students have filed a lawsuit against FCPS Superintendent Scott Brabrand, School Board chair Stella Pekarsky, and Fairfax County Health Department Director Gloria Addo-Ayensu, calling the 10-day quarantine requirement unconstitutional.

Submitted to the U.S. District Court in Alexandria on Dec. 23, the complaint argues that unvaccinated students should have the same exemption from quarantining as their vaccinated peers if they were infected with Covid within the past 90 days.

“This discriminatory treatment of students with natural immunity against COVID-19 is arbitrary and irrational,” the complaint says, urging the court to prevent FCPS from enforcing its policy.

FCPS told FFXnow that it “won’t be commenting on the litigation.”

Represented by the New Civil Liberties Alliance, which describes itself as nonpartisan but has right-wing leanings, parents Eric and Jenny McArthur say their daughter, identified as M.M., was required to quarantine for 10 days starting on Dec. 2 after being identified as a “potential close contact” of a student or staff member who tested positive for Covid.

They argue that she shouldn’t have had to quarantine, because she contracted COVID-19 in late October, isolating at home for two weeks before returning to school in person on Nov. 13.

Since Jan. 10, FCPS has allowed students and staff to avoid quarantining if they are asymptomatic, can wear a face mask, and meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s criteria for an exemption.

The CDC says close contacts of someone with COVID-19 don’t need to quarantine if they’re up to date with vaccinations, including recommended boosters, or they were infected within the last 90 days, as confirmed by a positive viral test record.

In their complaint, the McArthurs say their daughter did not get tested while sick because she had family members who already tested positive for COVID-19 and were displaying symptoms. They also didn’t know it would be necessary to get a quarantine exemption.

“M.M. suffered mental and emotional distress, as well as learning loss, as a result of being excluded from in-person school,” the complaint says.

While a court date in the lawsuit hasn’t been set yet, NCLA filed an emergency motion for a preliminary injunction on Feb. 1, asking the court to require FCPS to let M.M. and her brother return to in-person school after they were required to quarantine again on Jan. 31.

The attorneys say in a brief that neither child has gotten a Covid vaccine “because their parents strongly believe such vaccination is not in their medical best interests.”

In explaining why the McArthurs oppose the vaccine, the complaint primarily cites a joint declaration by scientists who advocated against lockdown restrictions in the initial days of the pandemic. The statement was criticized by many as dangerous and unethical.

According to the CDC, initial studies found “no significant difference” in the overall level of protection provided by a previous infection compared to vaccinations, but data from U.S. hospitals indicated that people hospitalized with COVID-19 were 5.5 times more likely to have been infected before than they were to have been vaccinated.

Photo via Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash

Fairfax County has now seen close to a month of plummeting COVID-19 case rates.

With 267 new cases reported today (Monday), the Fairfax Health District, which includes the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, is averaging 448 cases per day for the past week, a steep decline from the seven-day average of 2,590 cases recorded when the omicron variant-fueled surge peaked on Jan. 13.

The current seven-day average is the lowest that the district has seen since Dec. 20, when it was at 403 cases, according to Virginia Department of Health data.

The level of community transmission is still considered high, though, with the county seeing 293 new cases per 100,000 people and a 8.5% testing positivity rate for the week of Jan. 30 through Feb. 5.

In total, 172,751 district residents have contracted the coronavirus during the pandemic. Covid has put 4,424 people in the hospital, and killed 1,333 people, including 52 deaths reported since last week.

The majority of those deaths likely occurred in January due to the time it takes for deaths to be reported and the cause confirmed. VDH said on Friday (Feb. 4) that it was just starting to receive an influx of death certificates related to the omicron surge.

“Certified death certificates continue to be reported, so VDH will continue to receive new death certificates for the deaths that occurred in January 2022 and those that will occur subsequently over the next few weeks and months ahead until the Omicron surge dissipates,” the department explained.

VDH added in the news release that “the best defense against COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and death remains vaccination.”

As of Jan. 17-29, the Covid infection rate in Virginia was 4.7 times higher for people who aren’t unvaccinated compared to those who have gotten at least two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

According to the Fairfax County Health Department, 90% of all Fairfax Health District residents 18 and older have received at least one vaccine dose, as of today.

At least one dose has been administered to 954,019 residents overall, or 80.6% of the population, including:

• 95.5% of 16-17 year olds
• 91% of 12-15 year olds
• 48.9% of 5-11 year olds

The district has 845,140 fully vaccinated residents — 71.4% of the population, including 80.2% of adults.

Photo via CDC/Unsplash

The Fairfax County Health Department is investigating a possible measles exposure in the area.

Health officials believe an individual with the disease may have exposed residents earlier this month, they announced today (Monday).

Three possible dates are being investigated:

• Grand Centreville Plaza on Feb. 1 between 11:45 a.m. and 3 p.m., and on Feb. 3 between 2:15 and 5 p.m.
• Inova Fairfax Hospital’s pediatric and adult emergency departments on Feb. 3 between 5;30 and 9 p.m.

Measles is highly contagious and is spread through coughing, sneezing and contact with droplets in the area. Symptoms first manifest in the first stage with a high degree fever, runny nose, watery red eyes and a cough.

The second stage begins when a rash is visible on the face and spreads over the entire body.

Based on the date of exposure, health officials believe that residents could develop symptoms as late as Feb. 24.

Here’s more from the health department on what to do if you believe you may have been exposed:

If you have received two doses of a measles containing vaccine (either the measles, mumps, and rubella [MMR] vaccine or a measles only vaccine which is available in other countries) you are protected and do not need to take any action.

If you have received only one dose of a measles containing vaccine, you are very likely to be protected and your risk of being infected with measles from any of these exposures is very low. However, to achieve complete immunity, contact your health care provider about getting a second vaccine dose.

If you have never received a measles containing vaccine nor had a documented case of measles, you may be at risk of getting measles from this exposure. Contact your local health department or health care provider for advice on possible intervention to decrease your risk of becoming infected or other precautions you need to take. If you notice the symptoms of measles, stay home and away from others, and immediately call your primary health care provider or health department to discuss further care. Call ahead before going to the office or the emergency room and tell them that you were exposed to measles.

The Virginia Department of Health offers information about the illness online. Residents with questions can call the county at 703-688-3471.

Photo via Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

A report recommending that Fairfax County rename its portions of Route 29 and Route 50 will go before county leaders tomorrow (Tuesday), even as concerns about the financial impact linger.

Compiled by the 26-person Confederate Names Task Force, the report details the process used to determine that Lee Highway and Lee-Jackson Memorial Highway should get new names and recommends five possible replacements for each road:

Recommended Top Five Alternative Names for Lee Highway (Route 29)

Cardinal Highway, 13 votes
Route/Highway 29, 12 votes
Langston Boulevard/Highway, 6 votes
Lincoln-Douglass Highway, 6 votes
Fairfax Boulevard/Highway, 5 votes

Recommended Top Five Alternative Names for Lee-Jackson Memorial Highway (Route 50)

Little River Turnpike, 16 votes
Unity Highway, 12 votes
Route 50, 6 votes
Fairfax Boulevard, 4 votes
Blue & Gray Highway, 3 votes

Appointed by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors last July, the task force voted 20-6 on Nov. 30 in favor of changing the name of Lee Highway and 19-6 for Lee-Jackson Memorial.

Task force chair Evelyn Spain will present the final report to the board during its regular meeting tomorrow, which will begin at 9:30 a.m.

“The Board set up this important committee to review the names of two major arterials and now we are eager to hear their report,” Board Chairman Jeff McKay told FFXnow in a statement. “Any decision to change street names is one our Board will take seriously as we consider the report as well as other community input before any decisions are made. I am proud that this Board has a strong record of focusing on racial inequities and advancing our community together.”

The two highways are among 150 landmarks in the county identified as bearing names tied to the Confederacy, according to an inventory that the Fairfax County History Commission presented to local leaders in December 2020.

The commission found that the Virginia General Assembly established Lee Highway in 1922 as a statewide route serving as a national memorial for Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

That same year, the state House and Senate Roads Committee also agreed to rename a section of Little River Turnpike after Lee and fellow Confederate Gen. Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson.

The task force recommended that both highways get new names to “accommodate the equity initiatives and growing diversity in Fairfax County,” the report says. It also acknowledges that the changes “will likely be major impositions upon the residences, businesses, and communities” in those corridors.

The group suggests that the Board of Supervisors consider providing financial assistance to those affected, if it ultimately approves the name changes.

The final report features several letters from the task force members who opposed or abstained from voting on the name changes. Objections include:

• A public survey found 23,500 respondents want to keep the names as they are and 16,265 in support of changes
• The cost to make the change, which could total $1 million to $4 million, according to county staff
• Even though the institution of slavery was evil, the name switch “erases history”

“We believe the $1M to $4M required to rename these two roads would be more effectively spent pursuing a community engagement project (e.g. an African-American Heritage Trail, a museum, and/or new historic markers),” the dissenters said, noting that Prince William County is adding to its African American History Trail. “We encourage Fairfax County to pursue similar projects.”

To coincide with Black History Month, the county launched a project last week focused on local Black and African American experiences, including support for students to identify options for new historical markers.

Angela Woolsey contributed to this report.

Fairfax County Public Schools will continue requiring face masks after notching a victory in its lawsuit against Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order prohibiting school mask mandates.

Arlington County Circuit Court Judge Louise DiMatteo granted a temporary injunction today (Friday) to Fairfax County and the six other school boards suing Youngkin, allowing them to enforce their mask requirements until a permanent ruling is made.

“This temporary order takes immediate action to protect the health and wellbeing of all students and staff and reaffirms the constitutional right of Virginia’s local school boards to enact policy at the local level,” FCPS said in a statement.

The school boards argued in a hearing on Wednesday (Feb. 2) that Youngkin’s optional mask order violates Virginia’s Constitution as well as Senate Bill 1303, which required schools to provide in-person learning while following federal COVID-19 health guidelines “to the maximum extent practicable.”

In her opinion, DiMatteo makes clear that the temporary injunction was granted based not on the benefits of universal versus optional masking, but on whether Youngkin had the authority to issue his executive order.

“The single issue before the Court is whether the Governor, via his emergency powers, can override the decision of local school boards delegated to them under SB 1303,” the judge wrote. “On this pivotal point, the Court concludes that the Governor cannot.”

As local school and health officials stated in a virtual town hall earlier this week, FCPS reiterated in a message to families that requiring mask-wearing inside schools remains necessary to limit Covid’s spread so students can keep learning in person:

Dear FCPS Staff and Families,

Just a short time ago, a judge in Arlington Circuit Court agreed to a temporary injunction requested by FCPS and six other Northern Virginia school districts, that takes immediate action to protect the health of our community and also reaffirms the constitutional right in the Commonwealth of Virginia of school boards to make policy decisions for their districts.

A final hearing will be held at a future date. In the meantime, Fairfax County Public Schools will continue our mask requirement for all students, staff, and visitors, a regulation that is overwhelmingly supported by our staff and families. Read our statement on today’s decision.

Universal mask wearing has been a critical safety measure throughout the pandemic, especially during this most recent surge. We are committed to providing all students safe and in-person instruction. We believe that in order to do so, masks and our other layered prevention strategies must remain in place for now. As a reminder, all students are required to wear a face covering while indoors on school property or during FCPS-provided transportation, unless they have an exemption.

We are working with health experts to determine a safe and effective plan to scale back when it is appropriate to do so. FCPS will continue, as it has since this pandemic began, to prioritize the health and safety of all students and staff.

Some of you will be relieved by today’s decision and others will be frustrated. We understand. We ask everyone to treat each other with kindness, respect school procedures, and work together to safely move forward.

Fairfax County Public Schools

A date for the court hearing on a possible permanent injunction has not been set yet.