For the first time in decades, the Fairfax County School Board conducted a comprehensive review of the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Boundary Policy (Policy 8130) and approved updates to the policy at its July 18 Regular Public Meeting.  The July 18 action completes a years-long process that creates a framework for future boundary adjustments.

The School Board has stated this policy will help ensure better student achievement through enhanced instructional quality, budget optimization, and strengthened student well-being.

According to the School Board’s updated policy, the division superintendent must conduct a comprehensive review of division-wide boundaries every five years, in part, to minimize the need for major future adjustments. When recommending changes, the division superintendent will consider several criteria, including:

• Access to Programming: Ensure equitable access to programs and facilities across the school division and consider the impact on school programs and populations.
• Enrollment/Capacity: Use student enrollment projections to balance available capacity across the school division and maximize efficient and effective use of school facilities, per best practices for capacity utilization and program needs, while eliminating or preventing split feeders whenever possible.
• Proximity: Promote contiguous attendance zones and maintain neighborhood groupings (to include condominium and apartment complexes) to eliminate or prevent attendance islands (when a geographic area is assigned to a particular school boundary that is not adjacent to the rest of the school's boundary).
• Transportation: Provide for walking and busing safety, limit transportation times, and ensure efficient transportation routes within attendance areas.

So, what does this mean for Realtors® and your clients?

First, it is important to note that the July policy change does not propose specific boundary changes, nor were specific boundaries considered during the policy review. Changes to school boundaries are always controversial and hotly debated, and this policy was no different. However, the School Board has clearly stated that any permanent adjustment recommendations from the division superintendent will require robust community engagement including surveys, meetings, and hearings, and must ultimately be approved by the School Board. This was not some covert attempt to change school boundaries.

The answer to why this was, and remains, a controversial issue lies in the potential frequency of boundary changes. Under the previous policy, school boundaries were not reviewed districtwide on a regular schedule. Proposed changes were addressed on an “as needed” basis and were generally triggered by issues such as overcrowding or major transportation challenges.

Now, FCPS will regularly (every 5 years) examine boundaries to determine the best possible use of school facilities in response to growth, development, and the changing landscape in Fairfax County. Rather than being forced to create temporary classrooms or undergoing expensive school building expansions, the schools may be able to first adjust boundaries to handle these challenges in a more cost-effective manner.

But this does mean the potential for more frequently shifting school boundaries, and one of your clients could find themselves and their families redistricted at some point, especially if they currently live near a boundary with another school. Here are some factors to look at when discussing this issue:

• Home Values

  Looking at data on school quality and home prices demonstrates there is only a slight correlation between the two. In today’s market there are so many factors impacting home prices so it is hard to argue that school boundary changes will directly impact home values.

• Home Buyer’s Decisions

  It is a fact that school quality can influence a buyers’ decision. According to NAR’s Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, more than half of home buyers with children in the home under the age of 18 years said that the quality of school districts is an important factor when purchasing a home. There are buyers who desire to live within specific FCPS high school pyramids and their feeder elementary and middle schools. These buyers should exercise due diligence on the possibility of future changes, but they can also be assured that any changes will be transparent—and they will have an opportunity to contest changes should they impact their child’s school.

  All FCPS schools are highly ranked and many schools within the district offer unique programs that do not always translate to “national rankings” like Advanced Academic Programs, International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, Career and Technical Education, High school academies, Dual Language Immersion Programs and more.

• Student Disruption/Relocation

  Many opponents of the policy change raised concerns about disrupting students and existing communities by moving students to different schools in the middle of their education career or moving them every 5 years. While the thought of a student being redistricted every five years can largely be disregarded as the process is not designed to make frequent changes in that manner, it is certainly possible that a student could face a boundary change. School Board members are aware of the impact this could have on a student’s well-being, and several amendments to allow school continuity if boundaries were changed after enrollment. The policy language, as approved, allows the school board to make transition and continuity decisions on a case-by-case basis for each proposed boundary change.

  “Split feeders” that divert students from remaining with friends as they move on to high school are not uncommon in FCPS due to legacy boundaries, which result from development, new schools, and previous boundary changes. The new policy is expected to reduce split feeders, allowing students to stick with friends and peers as they advance to high school.

• Transportation/Student Commute Times

As Realtors®, we talk to people moving to and within Northern Virginia every day. One of their primary concerns is congestion and travel time throughout the region. Nobody wants to subject a student to a lengthy commute. The updated policy could result in shorter bus/car commute times and reduce earlier mornings and later evenings for some students.

Important reminder about Fair Housing and School Quality

As a Realtor®, providing school quality information carries potential Fair Housing implications.

Comments about schools and their quality or demographics have at times been used as a proxy to steer clients to specific neighborhoods based on the racial or ethnic makeup of the neighborhood.

Realtors® can give clients objective information about schools without violating fair housing laws. It is perfectly acceptable to identify the name of the schools that serve a specific neighborhood, such as Fairfax High School or Graham Road Elementary. The name of the school and the school district a home sits within are objective facts. However, Realtors® should exercise care when discussing the quality of schools.

We recommend that Realtors® cite information from objective sources such as reports from government agencies, newspaper articles, or other third parties that discuss objective criteria. Be prepared to direct them to unbiased resources such as: www.niche.com; greatschools.org; and the Virginia Department of Education, but also acknowledge that some of those sites may have incomplete information about specific school programs. Visit the Fairfax boundary (attendance area) locator to determine a current school assignment for an address.

Realtors® should not provide specific opinions on the quality of schools or even neighborhoods. When asked questions that would require a subjective response, support your clients by directing them to sources that will enable them to make the best decisions for themselves.