The Fairfax County School Board voted last Thursday night, May 9, to approve adjustments to school attendance areas in an effort to alleviate overcrowding at Fairfax High and Lanier Middle School.
The boundary changes will be phased in, beginning in the 2014-15 school year, with an option for families to move their rising seventh-grade students and rising freshmen to their newly assigned schools in fall 2013, with transportation provided. Rising eighth-grade students, juniors and seniors would be allowed to remain at their current schools in fall 2014.
“We tried to accommodate as many of the concerns aired by parents and citizens who participated in the community-engagement process, as possible,” said School Board Chairman Ilryong Moon. “The School Board was faced with the challenge of reducing enrollment at two facilities maintained by the City of Fairfax, and we made every effort to avoid split feeders whenever possible in order to accomplish this task.”
The approved boundary changes move students in the Greenbriar West Elementary attendance area east of Stringfellow Road from Lanier Middle and Fairfax High to Rocky Run Middle and Chantilly High, eliminating the current split-feeder assignment for Greenbriar West.
The board also approved an amendment reassigning the Penderbrook and Fairfax Farms areas of the Waples Mill Elementary attendance area from Lanier Middle to Franklin Middle starting with school year 2013-14. These students will also shift from Fairfax High to Oakton High in 2014-15, thereby eliminating a split-feeder assignment for Waples Mill Elementary.
Approximately 540 students from Fairfax High and 245 students from Lanier Middle will be reassigned by the school year 2017-18 to relieve overcrowding at these schools. Students living in the City of Fairfax aren’t impacted by the boundary changes.