Caffe Amouri Resumes Indoor Service — Vienna’s Caffe Amouri welcomed patrons back inside yesterday (Monday) for the first time in 16 months. The coffee shop will maintain some COVID-19 health rules, including a 30-minute seating limit and continued mask-wearing for staff with a request that customers keep using them as well. [Patch]

Capital One Hall Announces Opening Weekend Performer — The country band Little Big Town will perform two shows during the opening weekend of Capital One Hall in Tysons, the venue announced yesterday. Tickets for the shows on Oct. 2 and 3 will go on sale at 10 a.m. this Friday (June 18). [Capital One Hall/Twitter]

FCPS Hires Cybersecurity Director — Fairfax County Public Schools has a director of cybersecurity for the first time, with Vijai Rao, who previously worked for Metro, joining the school district on June 1. The position was created after a ransomware attack in September compromised personal information of students and staff. [Providence District School Board newsletter]

Tysons Company Holds Sports Equipment Drive — PenFed Credit Union, which is headquartered in Tysons, collected $3,000 worth of sports equipment with a drive led by employees and their families on June 9. The equipment will be distributed to at-risk youth in the D.C. region by local police, and the company also donated $15,000 to the Washington D.C. Police Foundation. [PenFed]

Abrar Omeish doesn’t regret taking a stand on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, but if she could go back, she might have expressed her opinion a little differently.

The at-large Fairfax County School Board member sparked a heated local debate about one of the most contentious subjects in global politics last month when she recognized Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that concludes a month of fasting, with a tweet decrying Israel’s treatment of Palestinians as “apartheid and colonization.”

As the board’s only Muslim member and the first Muslim woman elected to a school board anywhere in Virginia, Omeish says she felt a responsibility to speak up about the escalating violence that, at that time, had killed 10 people in Israel, including two children, and 192 people in Gaza, including 58 children.

Her May 13 tweet was part of the larger #EidwithPalestine hashtag that went emerged after Israeli security forces stormed the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem amid tensions over Palestinians being evicted from the city’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

“The idea was [Muslims] celebrate [Eid], but it’s bittersweet because we can celebrate while mourning and knowing that our Holy Land is being disrespected and people are being killed in their efforts to defend it,” Omeish told Tysons Reporter. “…Being, like you said, the only Muslim voice, I felt tremendous pressure, and it’s not like I didn’t anticipate, you know, backlash.”

That backlash came from expected sources, given the school board’s decidedly Democratic makeup, as the Fairfax County Republican Committee chair called for Omeish’s resignation or removal and endorsed a parent-led campaign to recall her and other school board members that originally stemmed from frustrations with pandemic-related school closures in the fall.

However, the tweet also drew criticism from some colleagues and allies.

Hunter Mill District School Board Representative Melanie Meren said in a tweet on May 14 that she was “aghast” and “appalled,” calling Omeish’s sentiments alienating to members of the community, including herself, and a setback to Fairfax County Public Schools’ equity-related efforts.

“Rebuilding of relationships will need to happen,” Meren said.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington nixed plans to honor Omeish for supporting the recognition of additional religious holidays in the FCPS calendar. Four other school board members were still honored at the advocacy group’s annual membership meeting on May 20.

“The language Ms. Omeish used in this Tweet is deeply offensive and inflammatory to all who support Israel,” JCRC President Ronald Paul and Executive Director Ron Halber said in a joint statement on the decision. “It is irresponsible of her to use her public platform to publicly advance controversial political views that target and marginalize Jewish students and their families and divide our community.”

The letter went on to say that conversations about why JCRC found Omeish’s comment offensive were unproductive as she “continued to stoke the flames of division and acrimony” by not removing the tweet or taking “affirmative steps to try to stem the vitriolic, hateful rhetoric on social media triggered by her remarks.”

For her part, Omeish says JCRC’s statement was “a complete mischaracterization” of how she approached their interactions, saying that she “got yelled at on the phone aggressively” and has “been threatened by JCRC multiple times” about her stance on Israel.

“They told me, like, if you don’t take this down, we will post a statement about you and it’s not going to be pretty,” she said. “They would say things like that to me, and for me, I’m like, look, I respectfully reject the threat. I’m not going to change my position because you’re scaring me.”

Halber and JCRC Associate Director Guila Franklin Siegel disputed Omeish’s characterization of their interactions in a statement to Tysons Reporter:

“We took no pleasure in having to rescind Ms. Omeish’s award. But there is no place for the divisive and offensive language she used in her May 13th Tweet or for her insulting insinuations about the JCRC. We never have and never would threaten anyone. Ms. Omeish stands out among the thousands of elected officials and interfaith leaders from every background who have successfully partnered with the JCRC in nearly a century of community-building. We hope Ms. Omeish undertakes the hard work necessary to understand how her hurtful language impacted members of the Jewish community, including our children in FCPS schools. For the benefit of the entire FCPS community, we hope to be able to work with Ms. Omeish in the future to pursue unity, equity, and mutual respect in Fairfax County.”

Omeish got another opportunity to engage with Jewish leaders, as she promised in a follow-up tweet, at a roundtable convened on May 23. Read More

Memorial Day is just around the corner on Monday (May 31), and the federal holiday will bring a few closures of public buildings in the Tysons area.

Fairfax County Government:

• County government offices will be closed on May 31.

Fairfax County Courts:

• The Fairfax Circuit, General District, and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District courts will be closed all day on May 31.

Town of Vienna

• Town offices will be closed all day.
• The Vienna Community Center hours will change to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on May 31.
• The holiday will not affect waste collection. Residents scheduled for pick-up on Mondays can place their waste by the curb as normal.

City of Falls Church:

• All city offices and services, including City Hall, the Mary Riley Styles Public Library, and the Community Center will be closed.

Public Schools:

• Fairfax County Public Schools will be closed for Memorial Day.

County Libraries, Recreation Centers, Parks:

• All Fairfax County library branches will be closed.
• All Fairfax County RECenters will operate at their regular hours.
• Colvin Run Mill and Sully Historic Site grounds will be open from noon to 4 p.m. for strolling, but all the buildings will be closed.
• The E.C. Lawrence, Hidden Oaks, Hidden Pond, and Huntley Meadows nature centers  will be open from noon until 5 p.m. on May 31.
• The Riverbend Park visitor center will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• The McLean Community Center will be closed for Memorial Day.

Public Transit:

• Fairfax Connector buses will operate on a Sunday service schedule. Check the link for details on specific routes.
• WMATA Metrorail service will operate from 7 a.m.-11 p.m. on Saturday and from 8 a.m.-11 p.m. on Sunday and Monday.
• WMATA Metrobus will operate on a Sunday service schedule.

County Trash and Recycling:

• There will be no change in the county’s trash and recycling collection.
• The recycling and disposal centers at the I-66 Transfer Station and I-95 Landfill Complex will be open.

Fairfax County student Pranav Choudhary started watching school board meetings on YouTube in middle school.

Now, the rising senior at Langley High School is the next student representative to the school board.

Elected by the countywide Student Advisory Council to serve a one-year term, beginning July 1, he will participate in board meetings as a nonvoting member, filling the position currently held by Nathan Onibudo, a senior at South County High School. He will be the school board’s 51st student representative.

Choudhary aims to be a voice for students on issues affecting his peers, including how Fairfax County Public Schools delivers instruction to students enrolled in different programs and supports students struggling with their mental health or who have disabilities.

He also hopes to carve out more spaces for students to use their voices.

“If you don’t have a seat at the table, you’d better pull over a chair and sit yourself down to make your voice heard,” he said. “[That’s] why I want to expand student voice opportunities across the county.”

He has experience amplifying student voices as a member of the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council and as the co-founder of Virginia Teen Democrats.

“We didn’t see a space for teens in the Democratic Party of Virginia and in Virginia Democratic politics,” he said. “VATD has taught me how to organize [and] how to make sure that everybody is pulling their weight.”

Choudhary argues that student voices will be critical to overcoming the educational gaps that FCPS sees based on race, socioeconomic status, and English language proficiency.

He says FCPS should also examine differences in the kinds of experiences students get depending on whether they’re in the Advanced Academic Program, general, and honors education, such as the extra field trips available to AAP students.

“We often talk about equity in this broad, intangible sense, but we don’t talk about what that means and what that looks like,” he said.

He also sees room for more student participation in deciding what services schools must provide to students with disabilities — codified in an Individualized Education Plan — a conversation mostly directed by parents, teachers, and specialists.

“There is a lack of students’ voice in the IEP process,” he said. “Ensuring everyone can be heard and that their individual needs are met is beyond vital.”

That also means “proactively monitoring the environment in which students are being put day-to-day” to look for signs of depression and suicide, he says. Read More

At this time next week, middle and high school students in Fairfax County will be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as part of their school day.

Now that adolescents aged 12-15 are eligible to get the Pfizer vaccine, Fairfax County Public Schools is partnering with the Fairfax County Health Department to open COVID-19 vaccination sites at several high schools around the county, including Langley High School in McLean on May 26.

Announced in a letter sent to parents last night (Monday), the initial schedule will be:

• Tuesday, May 25: Bryant High School (2709 Popkins Lane, Alexandria)
• Wednesday, May 26: Langley High School (6520 Georgetown Pike, McLean)
• Thursday, May 27: Annandale High School (4700 Medford Dr., Annandale)
• Friday, May 28: Mount Vernon High School (8515 Old Mt. Vernon Rd., Alexandria)

More sites will be added starting on June 1, with at least five additional sites expected to be selected later in May, according to FCPS spokesperson Lucy Caldwell.

Registration is now open online for appointments, which will be scheduled between 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. each day. Students must obtain parent or guardian consent by 8 p.m. on Thursday (May 20) to participate in next week’s clinics.

“It is important to register as soon as possible to ensure that your student will be able to take advantage of this opportunity,” FCPS said. “If maximum capacity is reached, families will be referred to the nearest vaccine clinic for an appointment.”

The county health department estimates that it will be able to vaccinate roughly 600-700 students a day with these clinics, according to Caldwell.

The clinics are open to all eligible students, not just students who attend the schools where they will be located. Transportation will be provided to and from the vaccination sites for all students, but students who are learning virtually need to be dropped off and picked up at their base school.

Caldwell says the schools scheduled for next week were chosen based on the availability of appropriate facilities.

“This is a busy time of year with testing and other events underway at our schools,” she told Tysons Reporter by email. “The large rooms needed — gyms/cafeterias — were essential for the vaccination sites.”

FCPS and the Fairfax County Health Department announced that they were planning to organize vaccine clinics at schools last week after federal officials approved the Pfizer vaccine for people 12 to 15 years of age.

FCPS previously worked with Inova Health System to set up vaccine clinics specifically for school employees.

By partnering with the county health department, FCPS hopes to remove barriers with scheduling, transportation, or other issues that might make it challenging for some students to get access to the vaccine, Caldwell says.

In addition to hosting clinics, FCPS has launched an “Ask Me Why” information campaign to encourage eligible students to get vaccinated, which will be critical as the school system prepares to resume five days of in-person learning in the fall.

On top of the general public health benefits of getting immunized against a disease that 689 Fairfax County students have contracted since Sept. 8, fully vaccinated students will be able to continue attending school in person without having to quarantine if they are exposed to someone who tests positive for COVID-19.

“We are hopeful that our students, ages 12 and up, will take advantage of vaccination and return to five days, in-person learning in Fall,” Caldwell said. “It is significant for many reasons, as we believe it is best for students to attend school in person, but also for the social-emotional aspect of building relationships, friendships and rapport with peers.”

Following the county government’s lead, Fairfax County Public Schools will soon prohibit voluntary cooperation between staff and Immigration and Customs Enforcement after the school board voted unanimously on Tuesday (May 5) to create a “School Trust Policy.”

Fairfax County School Board members say the new policy will align with the Trust Policy that the county adopted in January, which prohibits employees from giving federal immigration authorities information about a person’s immigration or citizenship status unless required by law or court order.

With the vote, some board members will start working with FCPS staff to develop the policy for full adoption in the near future. According to the school board, the new policy will be designed to help build confidence with immigrant families.

“Even with our school system’s existing commitment to privacy protection, the need for a policy that rebuilds trust with immigrant families remains urgent,” Providence District School Board Representative Karl Frisch, who co-sponsored the measure, said. “Fairfax County took the necessary first step. Our school division will now join them by developing a policy that helps rebuild trust in our schools and keep families together  —  that is exactly what the School Trust Policy will do.”

Student information, including immigration status, is confidential under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, typically known by its acronym, FERPA. But advocates say ICE can easily access names, addresses, and birth dates to locate undocumented students and their parents.

“Because ICE takes advantage of privacy law deficiencies through data-mining of multiple public and quasi-public databases, the policies limit disclosure to other outside entities whose records could be accessed for immigration enforcement,” the immigrant rights group ACLU People Power Fairfax said. “Sensitive contact information may still be shared, but only when required to accomplish the agency’s mission.”

A recent survey from CASA, the largest immigrant advocacy group in the mid-Atlantic region, showed that Fairfax County has struggled to gain the immigrant community’s trust because members fear any contact with the police can lead to their deportation, Frisch says.

This fear keeps some families from accessing FCPS resources, such as meals, mental health services, parent workshops, and academic opportunities, according to School Board Chair and Mason District Representative Ricardy Anderson, who joined Frisch in proposing the Trust Policy.

“To regain their confidence, we must demonstrate in all that we do that we are in the business of education and nothing more,” she said.

But the magnitude of the problem in FCPS is not easy to measure, as the Virginia Department of Education does not track immigration status.

What the school division does know is that, during the 2019-20 school year, nearly 27% of all students last fall were English Learners, and Frisch says that in 2018, a former FCPS student who was undocumented told the board that he did not report incidents of bullying and assaults because he feared being reported to ICE.

The forthcoming School Trust Policy will be essential to immigrant students’ educational success and general well-being, ACLU People Power Fairfax Lead Advocate Diane Burkley Alejandro says.

“Although federal privacy law provides protection for student information, there are numerous exceptions that put immigrant families at risk,” she said. “We applaud the School Board for recognizing that more must be done.”

After getting into a new groove of providing four days of in-person learning, Fairfax County Public Schools has officially announced its plans for the fall.

The school system will offer all students five days of in-person learning in the fall and a limited virtual program for students with documented health needs.

Roughly 109,000 students and staff have returned to school buildings this school year. According to the school division, nearly 85,400 students attend in-person instruction, and more than 80% of those go at least four days a week.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 transmission rates remain less than 1% — even after schools reduced social distancing to three feet.

“We are excited to welcome all students and staff back to our buildings for the in-person experiences that we all missed this fall,” FCPS Superintendent Scott Brabrand said. “We are encouraged and hopeful that learning in the fall will look as close to normal as possible.”

Families who intend to send their kids back for five days of in-person instruction this fall will not have to do anything. Those who want to use next year’s virtual option need to apply by May 21 and include a certification of need penned by a licensed medical professional.

The virtual option is an accommodation for the pandemic and will likely not be offered beyond the 2021-22 school year, according to FCPS.

“While we are busy planning for the fall, we do recognize that some students, in very limited circumstances, may have a documented health or medical need for virtual instruction,” Brabrand said. “Today’s announcement will help ensure that we are able to continue to serve all.”

A new law requires Virginia’s school divisions to provide five days of in-person learning to families who want it this fall. No school districts are not obligated to provide a virtual option.

FCPS joins several neighboring jurisdictions in offering an in-house virtual program to students, including Arlington Public Schools, Alexandria City Public Schools, and Loudoun County Public Schools.

Unlike FCPS, which sees virtual learning as a COVID-19 measure, APS intends to one day permanently incorporate this option into its offerings.

The FCPS Virtual Program will be primarily taught by county teachers and accommodate students with special education needs and those who require English language learning services, but not all specialized programs or courses will be available.

Some courses will instead be offered through the statewide Virtual Virginia platform. FCPS officials initially proposed supporting students who need to remain online by continuing to utilize concurrent learning, where teachers provide instruction to in-person and virtual students simultaneously, but the school board decisively rejected the idea, citing teachers’ frustration with the additional workload.

School officials will decide case-by-case whether virtual students can participate in activities or athletics.

“We will see you in August,” Brabrand said.

Image via FCPS/Twitter

First Lady Northam Visits Tysons Mass Vaccine Site — “@FirstLadyVA Pamela Northam is visiting the mass vaccination site at Tysons Corner Mall, which just this week became the first vaccination site in Northern Virginia to allow walk up appointments. They are doing them Monday through Saturday, 9 AM to 4 PM.” [Tom Roussey ABC7/Twitter]

Primark Coming to Tysons Corner — The London-based clothing retailer Primark has signed a lease for a two-story, 37,100 square-foot store at Tysons Corner Center. Expected to open sometime between September 2023 and September 2024, the store will be Primark’s first in Virginia. The retailer prides itself on offering “amazing fashion at amazing prices,” but like other “fast fashion” brands, it has been criticized for exploitative labor practices. [Press release]

Vienna Plans to Lower Tax Rate — The Vienna Town Council signaled on Monday (April 26) that it supports reducing the town’s real estate tax rate by a quarter of a cent to 22.25 cents per $100 of assessed value. This would be the first time that the tax rate has changed from 22.5 cents per $100 in six years, but higher assessments mean that most homeowners will still see higher tax bills. [Sun Gazette/Inside NoVA]

Thoreau Principal Selection Process Underway — Fairfax County Public Schools officials held a community and staff meeting on the process to select a new principal for Thoreau Middle School. The school’s last principal, Yusef Azimi, was let go after police arrested him for reportedly failing to report child abuse allegations against a teacher. [Karl Frisch/Twitter]

Attorney General Allows Vaccination Requirements for Colleges — “In an official opinion Monday, Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has concluded that Virginia colleges and universities ‘may condition in-person attendance on receipt of an approved COVID-19 vaccine during this time of pandemic.'” [Falls Church News-Press]

More than 20 schools have expressed interest in learning more about a statewide pilot to conduct on-site COVID-19 screening and testing for students and staff, Fairfax County Public Schools officials reported yesterday (Tuesday).

FCPS Department of Special Services Assistant Superintendent Michelle Boyd told the school board during a work session that administrators will meet with staff at 21 schools on Thursday (April 22) to share more details about the Virginia Department of Health programs and determine which schools will ultimately participate.

In response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most recent guidance for kindergarten through 12th grade schools, VDH is working with the Virginia Department of Education to launch two pilot programs this month: one will provide schools with free antigen testing supplies that can return results within 15 minutes, and the other will support regular screenings to identify potential infections.

According to VDH, the diagnostic testing pilot is primarily intended to diagnose COVID-19 in teachers, staff, and students who are participating in-person instruction or are close contacts with someone who has been diagnosed and begin exhibiting symptoms.

The screening testing pilot, on the other hand, involves regularly screening a broad group of individuals to detect an infection before it spreads or become symptomatic. FCPS says it would conduct this pilot just with students, since staff have been able to get vaccinated.

Schools have the option to participate in one of the pilot programs, both of them, or neither. The pilots will launch this month and conclude on June 30.

“Our purpose for implementing these pilots this year is to gain information about what would be needed to stand it up next year, so this is really to get us prepared,” Boyd said.

In addition to participating in the pilot programs, FCPS is “actively pursuing” partners in the hopes of setting up targeted COVID-19 vaccine clinics for students that would be similar to the ones arranged with Inova for teachers and staff.

Since Fairfax County entered Phase 2 on Sunday (April 18), students 16 and older can now register for the vaccine, and FCPS is encouraging everyone who is eligible to find an appointment, according to a presentation that Superintendent Scott Brabrand delivered to the school board.

“We know that’s going to be critically important to returning to five days of instruction,” Boyd said of students getting vaccinated.

According to a report prepared for the school board, there were 470 reported COVID-19 cases among FCPS students and staff currently participating in in-person learning between Jan. 26 and April 13, but only 29 of those cases involved transmission within schools.

Four of the five outbreaks in that time period stemmed from athletic activities. Since school sports restarted in December, FCPS has documented 270 COVID-19 cases, including 61 cases likely spread through schools, and 16 outbreaks across 12 schools, all in basketball, wrestling, and football programs.

To date, there have been 1,397 reported cases among FCPS staff, students, and visitors since Sept. 8. Read More

(Updated at 10:50 a.m.) Students at Kilmer Middle School and Kilmer Center in Vienna are all learning virtually today (Friday) after both schools lost power this morning.

Karl Frisch, who represents Providence District on the Fairfax County School Board, said on Twitter that parents and guardians have been notified about the power outage, and students were sent home to “commence synchronous learning with their teachers.”

Dominion Energy’s outage map indicates that there is an ongoing outage near Kilmer Middle School that took out power for 133 customers.

According to the map, crews are currently working to resolve the outage, which is being attributed to “emergency work.” The current estimated time of restoration is sometime between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. today.

Fairfax County Public Schools spokesperson Lucy Caldwell confirmed that the school system contacted Kilmer parents to let them know that students are being transported home starting at 11 a.m. due to a power loss in the building at 8100 Wolftrap Road.

“FCPS is [in] contact with Dominion Power and are working to address the issue as quickly as possible. We are not sure of the timeframe of the repair,” Caldwell said.

She noted that virtual students “will also be impacted since teachers were unable to deliver concurrent instruction” from the building.

Tysons Reporter reached out to Dominion Energy for comment but did not hear back before publication.

Parents/guardians have been notified that @KilmerCougars and @KilmerCenter lost ⚡️ power ⚡️ this morning. @DominionEnergy estimates replacing the transformer will take 6-9 hours. Students are being sent home and will commence synchronous learning with their teachers. #OurKMS

— Karl Frisch (@ProvidenceFCPS) April 9, 2021

Map via Dominion Energy