Fairfax County school board members call for increase in safety measures after stabbing at high school
In a statement from school board members, officials noted that the school division is 'one of the safest public school systems in the United States.' However, they added that unacceptable violence took place at West Potomac High School, and it is necessary to invest in new measures to ensure the safety and security of students.
RELATED STORY | Police: 16-year-old seriously hurt in stabbing at West Potomac High School; teen charged
On April 23, the undersigned School Board Members shined the light on the Fairfax County School Board of Supervisors to prioritize increasing the number of School Resource Officers (SROs) to match the national recommendation of a ratio of 1:1,0000 to students at middle and high schools, ensure one or more SROs are present every day and fully fund Middle School After-School programs.
The Board Members also urged Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) to increase security assistants to 1 to 1,750 students at all middle and high schools to ensure appropriate enforcement of student discipline.
In the statement, members said the school district should secure entry doors to prevent unauthorized access, install video cameras inside and outside every school in the district and construct security vestibules at every school.
Members are also encouraging the installation of Open Gate weapons detection technology at every middle and high school.
Fairfax County Public Schools to deploy 15 new detection scanners at high schools after spring break
The stabbing comes weeks after the school district announced on April 10 that it would begin testing 15 weapons detection scanners at high schools.
The pilot program involves the deployment of Open Gate devices at a randomly selected high school. Each week, at least one school will be chosen for several days. The program started on the week of April 21
School officials told DC News Now that Edison High School tested the detectors earlier this week.
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Public school teacher reveals years-long effort to expose alleged student abortion scandal
On a recent morning, Centreville High School teacher Zenaida Perez had a surprise visitor at the northern Virginia school where she teaches English as a second language: a high-powered lawyer investigating allegations that Perez had made public that a school social worker coaxed and funded a student's 2021 abortion. The Clifton school district's superintendent, Michelle Reid, responded to the allegations the next day, claiming the school system had just "learned yesterday" about the potential scandal. Last Thursday, Reid emailed Centreville High School parents, again claiming that the district had taken "immediate action to engage an external independent investigator to get all the facts." Perez's visitor was Mary McGowan, a retired lawyer from Blankingship & Keith, a longtime go-to firm for Fairfax County Public Schools. In a nearly three-hour interview, Perez told McGowan how she had blown the whistle seven times about the abortion scandal since May 2022, only to be ignored and then retaliated against. School district officials were "covering up" the alleged abortion scandal, Perez said she told McGowan. in the interview. "Your recollection is outstanding," McGowan acknowledged at one point, according to Perez. Indeed, a detailed review of hundreds of pages of documents, emails and records confirm Perez's timeline. Perez told McGowan that she issued her first warning on May 5, 2022, in a meeting with then-principal, Chad Lehman, and an assistant principal. She said that a school social worker had allegedly facilitated and financed a 17-year-old student's abortion the year before, without her guardian's knowledge. Perez said she raised her concerns a second time in a letter sent on May 13, 2022, and she met again with Lehman in November 2022 to revisit the issue a third time, confirmed by an audio recording of the meeting. FCPS policy states that "every effort shall be made to encourage and support students suspecting pregnancy to discuss their concerns with their parents or guardians." However, it does not say FCPS employees should inform parents about those conversations. "As this is an ongoing personnel matter, we are not able to comment at this time," a spokesman for Fairfax County Public Schools said when asked about Perez's account. Born in Cuba, Perez migrated to the U.S. in 1990 after earning a master's degree in teaching English as a second language, often called "ESOL." After teaching at Sarasota Public Schools in Florida, she moved to Virginia, ultimately landing a coveted job as a teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools. The high school is "majority-minority." Almost 20% of students are learning to speak English, according to school demographic data. About one in four students live in low-income homes and qualify for free or reduced-fee meals. In the spring of 2022, Perez told the school board investigator she was blindsided when Lehman asked her if she'd given a pregnancy test to a student. She hadn't, but she did learn that a teen student from Guatemala told her that the school social worker had made an appointment for the student to get an abortion at a Falls Church, Va., clinic in November 2021, and paid the expenses. In a statement written later that fall, the student detailed what allegedly happened when she saw the social worker. "She helped me with a pregnancy termination, or abortion," she wrote, according to a translation from its original Spanish. "[She] made the appointment for me at the abortion clinic in Fairfax. She paid for the procedure and kept quiet about it, not letting my family know. 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She reminded the principal she had repeated her concerns in a letter. When she raised her concerns again about Diaz facilitating an abortion, Lehman responded that he didn't believe the social worker in question would have arranged an abortion for a student. Julie Perry, a teacher at Centreville High School, recalled how she met Perez for the first time that fall, as Perry stood outside Room 222A on the school's second floor. It was about 7:45 a.m., as students scurried into classrooms for their first period. Perry had just run on the Republican ticket for state House of Delegates, losing in a district that is majority Democratic. "I feel strong. I have truth and God on my side." - Zenaida Perez "God bless Zenaida for fighting through this," said Perry. "What's so sad are the higher-ups. They're not concerned about the truth. They're concerned about keeping silent about these abortions." 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Fairfax County to hire bodyguard for schools superintendent after threats
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