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
For the rest of February, Vienna Inn customers can thank local first responders by adding a gift card to their next hot dog order.
The restaurant announced on Monday (Feb. 7) that it hopes to give away 62 gift cards worth $10 each to first responders as part of a month-long celebration of its 62-year anniversary.
Aside from the introduction of an outdoor tent in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Vienna Inn remains much the same as when it opened its doors at 120 Maple Avenue East in February 1960.
The establishment is known for its chili dogs, rustic sports-bar atmosphere, and “honor system” approach to payment, where patrons get their own drinks and tell cashiers what they ordered instead of getting a bill from a server.
“After spending the past 2 years operating and making it through a pandemic, we are looking forward to celebrating,” Vienna Inn owner Marty Volk said in a press release. “It’s great to see the families and teams back in again.”
In addition to the gift cards for first responders, the 62nd anniversary celebration will include meal deals with special gifts for children 12 and under, weekly social media contests, National Chili Day giveaways, and a food drive to support the nonprofit Food for Others, where all participants will be able to get $2 hot dogs.
Additional information and updates on the festivities will be posted to the restaurant’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
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?”
FCPS Can Keep Enforcing Mask Mandate — An Arlington County judge ruled yesterday (Tuesday) that Fairfax County Public Schools and the six other districts engaged in a lawsuit against Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order can enforce their requirements until the legal challenge is resolved. The ruling came as the state Senate, led by Sen. Chap Petersen, approved a measure to let parents opt out of school mask mandates. [The Washington Post]
I-495 Pedestrian Bridge Under Construction — “Check out the progress on this bicycle and pedestrian bridge over I-495 and the connecting shared-use path in Tysons! This link from Tysons One Pl/Fashion Blvd to Old Meadow Rd and Provincial Dr is scheduled for completion this summer.” [VDOT Northern Virginia/Twitter]
Keam’s Roundabout Funding Bill Dies — A House of Delegates subcommittee voted to table legislation proposed by Del. Mark Keam, who represents Vienna and much of Tysons, that would’ve given more funding to sidewalk and roundabout projects. Virginia currently requires regional transportation funds to be prioritized based on congestion relief. [Sun Gazette]
Valentine’s Day Market Coming to Tysons — “Need a gift for your Valentine? @CelebrateFFX has you covered! Stop by the Loving Shop Local Market, this Saturday, Feb. 12 from 12-5 PM at The PARC for all of your Valentine’s Day essentials!” [Tysons Partnership/Twitter]
Say goodbye to Wade Hampton Drive, because by July, the name will be a relic like Jefferson Davis Highway.
The Vienna Town Council voted unanimously after a public hearing last night (Monday) to rename the Maple Avenue side street Liberty Lane, removing the moniker of Confederate Lt. Gen. Wade Hampton III.
The council also decided to reimburse the residents living along the road for the issues the renaming will cause and set a date for when the changeover will be complete.
The consensus among the Wade Hampton residents who spoke at the public hearing was that while a name change would be disruptive, requiring them to file address changes with various governmental and business entities, they understood and supported the move.
“It was a wrong done many years ago, and the Town of Vienna has to take some blame for it, and it should be righted,” Wade Hampton resident Sharon Pott said of naming a street after Hampton.
Identifying herself as a resident of Wade Hampton for close to 42 years, Pott said she supports renaming the road but noted that “it’s going to require quite a lot of effort on everybody’s part.”
Several Wade Hampton residents advocated for changing the name to Roland Street, which would connect it to an existing road in the neighborhood, but others objected to that name as well.
DeArmond Carter, a member of the nonprofit Historic Vienna who initiated the push to rename Wade Hampton Drive, expressed opposition to the potential namesake of the road, J.B. Roland, saying he held racist views and sympathies to the Confederacy.
“Continuing Roland Street would be an insult to Vienna’s African American community,” she said, recommending that the road instead take her family’s name in recognition of their 160-year history in the community.
Other residents preferred Liberty Lane as the replacement, citing the Town of Vienna’s role in getting Virginia to ratify Liberty Amendments Month as an annual celebration.
With the unanimously approved motion, the town council agreed that residents living on that road should be reimbursed $500 for the inconvenience, and that the changeover should go into effect on July 4.
“I didn’t want to go too cheap and I didn’t want to make it look like we were paying the residents off to make the change,” Councilmember Chuck Anderson said when some council members questioned the amount of the reimbursement. “I wanted to have a number that would start a conversation. It’s going to take time to find out what needs to be done to make the transition of changing the name.”
City staff will work with residents over the next four months to help them with the change.
Photo via Google Maps
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
After an extended break following the winter holidays, 1st Stage Theatre in Tysons is returning next week with “The Phlebotomist,” its first show of 2022.
Described as a “dark, gripping science-fiction romance,” the play will launch at the theater’s auditorium at 1524 Spring Hill Road on Feb. 17 and run through March 6 at the following times:
- Thursdays: 7:30 p.m.
- Fridays: 8 p.m.
- Saturdays: 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
- Sundays: 2 p.m.
This will be 1st Stage’s second indoor, in-person production during the COVID-19 pandemic after the theater reopened for the play “Secret Things” in November.
Prior to that, the group had staged some outdoor performances at The Boro, including for the Logan Festival of Solo Performances that kicked off its 2021-2022 season.
The theater continues to require that patrons wear face masks and present proof of full vaccination, with no option to provide a negative Covid test result as a substitute. All of its staff and volunteers are fully vaccinated.
The stage debut of playwright Ella Road, “The Phlebotomist” premiered with a sold-out run at Hampstead Theatre’s Downstairs studio in London, England, in 2018. 1st Stage’s production will be the play’s first in the D.C. region, according to a press release:
In a sci-fi-inspired world where genomics is the norm, every person gets assigned a “rating” at birth based on their genetic map. Bea, a phlebotomist, finds herself being pulled deeper and deeper into the dark side of the genetic testing underworld even as she falls in love with Aaron, a man she met by accident who has a near-perfect rating that far exceeds her own. The play was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement and had a sold-out run at the UK’s Hampstead Theater. “…a racy dystopian thriller that is part Black Mirror and part Brave New World.” – The Guardian. The Phlebotomist is written by Ella Road, and directed by 1st Stage Artistic Director, Alex Levy.
The cast features Josh Adams (The Cripple of Inishmaan), Anne Bowles (Hero’s Welcome), Sasha Olinick (Fly By Night, Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Ensemble), and Lynette Rathnam, in her 1st Stage debut.
The show will feature scene design by Kathryn Kawecki, sound design by Sarah O’Halloran, projection design by Patrick Lord, costume design by Moyenda Kulemeka, and lighting design by Helen Garcia-Alton.
General admission tickets cost $50, except on Thursday evenings, when the cost is $35. There are also $15 tickets available for students, educators, and military personnel, and the first 20 tickets sold for each show are just $20.
The Ashby at McLean apartment building is one step closer to converting most of its commercial space into additional residential units.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended on Wednesday (Feb. 2) that the Board of Supervisors allow the downtown luxury building to add up to 18 apartments, bringing it up to 274 residential units.
Property owner WashREIT’s project would repurpose nearly 24,000 square feet of commercial space in the building at 1350 Beverly Road. At least 8% of the new units will be affordable.
The proposal initially drew concerns from county wastewater staff that the added units could strain a sewage pipe, adversely affecting other residents in the area, said Planning Commission Vice Chair John Ulfelder, who represents the Dranesville District.
“They were concerned that the addition of even just 18 residential units to this section of sewer could…start to cause backups,” he said.
The sewer pipe at issue is 192 feet long and 8 inches in diameter, feeding into a larger line. According to Ulfelder, wastewater staff determined that an end section, located about one-third of a mile away from The Ashby, was “at its limit.”
At first, a 12-inch-wide pipe was proposed to address concerns, but county staff and WashREIT later decided that a 15-inch pipe could be used instead. The company agreed to a proffer in which it would pay for the upgrades but could then impose surcharges on its apartment units.
WashREIT first sought to convert The Ashby’s commercial space into housing a decade ago, but the project stalled and was later put on hold, as Fairfax County revised its plan for McLean’s Community Business Center.
The resulting Comprehensive Plan amendment was approved in June, allowing increased density in the 230-acre downtown area. The county is now inviting the public to weigh in on design guidelines for future development.
The Ashby project will now go before the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for a public hearing and final approval today (Tuesday).
Photo via Google Maps
Real Estate Company Relocates Tysons Office — After nearly a decade in its current space at 1850 Towers Crescent Plaza, the real estate firm JLL will move its Northern Virginia office to 1800 Tysons Boulevard in the first quarter of this year. The new office will occupy 26,500 square feet in the Lerner-owned, 12-story-tall tower. [Commercial Observer]
Spring Hill Rec Center Pool Closed This Morning — “The Spring Hill Rec Center pool will be closed through at least midday Tuesday (February 8, 2022) due to mechanical issues. The rest of the facility remains open.” [FCPA/Twitter]
Lane Shift Coming for Route 7 in McLean — “Starting on or about Thursday, Feb. 10, drivers on westbound Route 7 will experience a lane shift to the south (towards the median) between Laurel Hill Road and Lewinsville Road as crews perform utility work under Route 7. All residences, businesses and other public facilities will remain accessible.” [VDOT]
McLean Teen Makes Science Competition Finals — Ben Choi, a senior at the Potomac School, is among 40 finalists in the nationwide 2022 Regeneron Science Talent Search, a prestigious science and math competition. For his project, Choi designed a “low-cost 3D prosthetic arm that can be controlled by a brainwave-detecting headband worn on the forehead.” [Patch]
McLean Coding School Has Global Reach — “When she helped start Codefy in 2019, [Lucy] Chen was a 17-year-old junior at Langley High School in McLean. Now 19 and a student at Columbia University, Chen helps oversee an online coding school that has grown exponentially and has taught thousands of students — all for free.” [Inside NoVA]
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
