12/09/2025, 21:17

extended the deadline for signatures to give more time for people to sign and took out the date of the letter which may be submitted on the 9th or 10th of Dec.


New petition description:

Request for Policy Changes Related to Afterschool Clubs and Anti-Semitism in FCPS Dec. 5,FCPS December 2025 Drs. Nardos King and Geovanny PonceFairfax County Public SchoolsFalls Church, VA  Dear Dr. King and Dr. Ponce:

Thank you for meeting Nov. 21 with concerned Jewish community members to discuss the videos Muslim Student Associations (MSA) at Langley and Thomas Jefferson high school produced, which mocked the kidnapping of hostages. www.camera.org/article/video-students-recruiting-for-msa-jokingly-threaten-kidnapping-and-terror/

We were grateful to learn about the steps FCPS plans to take to prevent future occurrences of student actions that violate FCPS policies, foment antisemitism and create a hostile environment for Jewish students, staff, and faculty.

We appreciate Dr. Ponce’s enumeration of steps being taken to improve oversight of student clubs, including the MSAs, at FCPS high schools by Directors of Student Activities (DSAs) and teacher advisers. 

We also welcome assurances made at the meeting that expectations for students, their teacher advisers, and Directors of Student Activities (DSAs) will be “tightened up.”

We applaud the TJ and Langley principals' letter to parents notifying the community about the videos, and reiterating their commitment “…to create a learning environment where all students and staff feel safe and respected.” 

Therefore, we respectfully request your consideration of the following to focus the Dec. 11 meeting at your offices with Superintendent Dr. Michele Reid:

1.    We urge FCPS to NOT lift or cancel any of the in-school suspensions the MSA club members may have received following the revelations of the two videos in local news media. We also would oppose the principals of the schools or the School Board lifting them. We believe, and attorneys will back us on this point, that such a move could be a Title VI Civil Rights Act Violation. (See Appendix of Documentation)

2. We request training of teachers who supervise after-school clubs like the MSAs to to ensure the safe, respectful school environment expected by TJ and Langley principals in the above-mentioned letter to parents (in Appendix). As mentioned at our Nov. 21 meeting, one MSA adviser told a parent weeks after the principals’ letter that the videos were only done in jest, although we were advised at the meeting this is not FCPS' official view of the matter.We request that the DSAs address each faculty adviser in order to ensure they understand and are committed to enforcing FCPS policies, including risks around student use of third party social media, and printed collateral, to promote their clubs and club activities.   3.    We request FCPS review of the independence of MSAs, as required by FCPS policy. Your application, “Starting a High School Club -- Activities Office Guidelines, states "A club may not be the extension of an outside organization, and no outside organization may have any authority or decision-making power over an FCPS club or students.”We would respectfully request that FCPS verify whether MSAs are in compliance. FCPS Regulation 2601.39P, Page 18, states the school administration has a right to review such documentation, even if in the private hands of students.

4.    We request measures to ensure that guest speakers to these clubs are vetted and approved using FCPS forms (see appendix for further details).

5.    Please advise which middle and high school social studies classes have incorporated any antisemitism lesson plans, such as the August 2025 release of the Virginia Attorney General (Virginia Rules). We understand that curriculum issues are within the remit of chief FCPS Chief Academic Officer Dr. Sloan Presidio's, and kindly request his presence at the Dec. 11 meeting with Dr. Reid to discuss.6.  Please provide an update on FCPS’s response to Gov. Youngkin’s May 19 executive order regarding developing tools to log antisemitic/antireligious incidents.    www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2025/may/name-1046294-en.htmlincidents.   https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2025/may/name-1046294-en.html

In closing, as members of the Fairfax County community, we share the stated goal of FCPS administrators to create a learning environment where all students and staff feel safe and respected. As stated in the April 2024-adopted Policy 3280.4 regarding "controversial issues:" The FCPS Portrait of a Graduate articulates a vision for student success that includes skills such as acknowledging and understanding diverse perspectives and cultures when considering local, national, and world issues, analyzing and constructing arguments and positions to ensure examination of a full range of viewpoints, and respecting divergent thinking... ”

Thank you so much for giving us an opportunity to share our views. We look forward to the Dec. 11 meeting and receiving a written response to this letter.

CC: Michele Reid, superintendent Sincerely,Ken Reid, Falls Church (county)

Shari Schwartz, Vienna

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