What The School Closure Order Means For Fairfax County Schools

FAIRFAX, VA — After Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered K-12 schools to close for the remainder of the 2019-2020 academic year, Fairfax County Public Schools is determining the next steps. The School Board is meeting for an emergency session Monday.

All FCPS extracurricular programs, athletic programs, and community use activities are canceled for the rest of the academic year. School buildings and administrative offices are closed until further notice. Meal distribution is continuing through grab-and-go food distribution sites, pop-up sites, curbside pickup at two schools and meal delivery on some bus routes.

The school district, which serves over 187,000 students, intends to provide a new continuity of learning plan. The plan will depend on guidance from the Virginia Department of Education in the coming days. The state's guidance will include graduation requirements for seniors as well as grading and academic year completion for all students. The plan for the first two weeks of the closure (March 16-27) has optional virtual learning without teacher instruction or grading.

"I know this is very disappointing news but also an understandable decision considering the environment we are in as we all try to do our part to flatten the curve and contain the spread of the virus," said Superintendent Scott Brabrand in a letter to families.

In regard to testing, the Virginia Department of Education is preparing to request a testing waiver for Standards of Learning (SOL). The May International Baccalaureate (IB) exams are canceled, and Advanced Placement (AP) exams will switch from in-person exams to online free-response exams.

The governor's order comes as there are 43 presumptive cases of new coronavirus in the Fairfax Health District, which covers Fairfax County, Fairfax City and Falls Church City. The latest number reflects the most cases of any Virginia locality as of Monday, March 23. The health department announced Saturday a Fairfax County man in his 60s died from respiratory failure due to new coronavirus. This is the first coronavirus death in Northern Virginia and one of six in the state. The other deaths happened in southeast Virginia's Peninsula Health District.

FCPS planning updates continue to be provided at www.fcps.edu/news/coronavirus-update. Public health information on the new coronavirus is available from the Fairfax County Health Department, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Virginia Department of Health. Text FFXCOVID to 888777 for Fairfax County updates about COVID-19 or call the information line with questions at 703-267-3511 from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.