Falls Church parents are furious over a proposal to build a public charter school just down the road from Falls Church High School, a diverse campus that’s wanting for programs and renovations. At best, they say, the school has been neglected by the Fairfax County School Board and would suffer more from the competition. At worst, they say school officials deem Falls Church High a school of immigrant parents who won’t raise a ruckus if treated unfairly.
The backlash was prompted by the proposed Fairfax Leadership Academy, which — if approved by state and local officials — would host an International Baccalaureate track and an Advancement Via Individual Determination program, which prepares low-income students for college in the ninth grade.
“This is a straw that has broken everybody’s back in my community,” said Joan Daly, whose son is a sophomore at Falls Church High — the county’s flagship AVID school. It is also surrounded by three schools with IB programs that lure about 130 students out of the Falls Church community.
With a population of 1,533, Falls Church is underenrolled by more than 400 students. It can’t always field sports teams; its football team is flush with sophomores. And parents say it’s been passed over for renovations, leaving moldy plumbing, rusty radiators and bathrooms so deficient that a 5-foot-3 woman could easily see into her neighbor’s stall.
“When the kids themselves call it a ‘ghetto school,’ whether they’re white, black or Hispanic, what does that tell you?” said Grace Cassidy, whose daughter is a junior.
Cassidy said she believes the school’s Hispanic population — 43 percent of students — comprises a lot of immigrant parents and parents working multiple jobs. Fifty-five percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
“I feel that because the majority is an immigrant population, [the school board] designated us as ‘that school,’ and don’t put in the wherewithal,” Cassidy said.
Del. Kaye Corey, D-Fairfax, who represented Falls Church High as the Mason District school board rep for 10 years, is serving on the Academy’s board. “I really regret that I did not have the opportunity to discuss this with the Falls Church High School parents,” Corey said. “And I really regret that the school system officials did not communicate with parents.”
Corey said Falls Church is “neglected” by school officials, but that the Academy would draw students from all over the county and take at-risk students — not the highest achievers — from Falls Church High.
School Board President Jane Strauss said Falls Church’s low enrollment was not the only factor putting the school low on the renovation queue. “But the parents’ concerns at Falls Church are real, and they need to be addressed,” she said.
