Community Participation

Comments from the public are welcome.

Register to Speak at Regular School Board Meetings

Community Participation Online Registration for Regular Business Meetings

Community Participation at Regular School Board Meetings 

Fairfax County and city residents, FCPS staff, FCPS students, FCPS guardians who are non-Fairfax County residents, and FCPS business partners who want to address the Board may register to speak by submitting a request online at 6 a.m. starting on the fourth business day before the next regular business meeting.

At the time of registration, speakers must identify whether they wish to testify in-person, virtually, or submit a prerecorded video testimony. Upon request at the time of registration, Translation Services will be provided for speakers for whom English is not their preferred language and who will give testimony in a language other than English. Speakers registered to submit a video testimony are encouraged to include a link to their video on their registration form. Once an option is selected, this choice cannot be changed.  Registration will close 48 hours before the meeting.

There will be a total of 16 speaker slots per regular meeting:

  • 10 slots shall be filled by speakers who choose to address the Board in-person or virtually.
  • 3 of the in-person or virtual slots shall be reserved for current FCPS students
  • 3 slots shall be reserved for video testimony

After the first 13 in-person or virtual speakers are determined through a random/lottery process, the next ten names as determined by the same random/lottery will be chosen as the waitlist and notified that they are on the waitlist to speak. Waitlist speakers may only speak live in-person or using live virtual video, which they select at the time of registration. 

Speaker substitutions are not permitted.  A speaker may not yield their time to another individual before or during their remarks.

After speaking during the community participation portion of the regular meeting, whether giving in-person testimony, live virtual testimony, or through prerecorded video testimony, speakers may not register to speak at the next two regular meetings so that others may have an opportunity to participate. Those listed on the waitlist who were not selected to speak will be allowed to sign up to speak at the next regular meeting.

 

Sign Up to Speak

Regular Meetings:

  • Online - An individual may sign up online beginning at 6 a.m. four business days prior to the meeting. The community may register to speak in-person, virtually, or by submitting a prerecorded video testimony. Upon request at the time of registration, Translation Services will be provided for speakers for whom English is not their preferred language and who will give testimony in a language other than English.  A maximum of 16 speaker slots are available, 3 reserved for students, 3 reserved for video testimony, and 10 for slots will be available for Fairfax County, City, FCPS staff, FCPS students, FCPS guardians who are non-Fairfax County residents, and FCPS business partners who want to address the Board.  The speakers list closes 48 hours prior to the Regular meeting.
  • By Phone - Call the School Board office at 571-423-1075 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Public Hearings: 

  • Online - An individual may sign up online beginning at 6 a.m. at least 10 business days prior to the public hearing. Upon request at the time of registration, Translation Services will be provided for speakers for whom English is not their preferred language and who will give testimony in a language other than English. The list will close at 4:30 p.m. on the business day immediately preceding the day of the hearing for weekday hearings, or at 4:30 p.m. on the Thursday preceding a Saturday public hearing.
  • By Phone - Call the School Board office at 571-423-1075 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
  • In Person - Five public hearing speaker slots are reserved for individuals, who have not registered in advance, to address the Board after registered speakers. Unregistered individuals may also use "no show" speaker slots to address the Board.

Video Testimony

Submission of prerecorded video testimony is intended to provide original statements to the School Board.  Videos are limited to two (2) minutes in length and must be original content produced by the submitter.  Fairfax County and City residents, FCPS employees, and non-Fairfax County business partners may submit video, online, for presentation at a regular School Board meeting. The School Board chairman will make the final determination as to which videos may be presented during community participation.

Valid working links to their video testimony must be submitted at least 36 hours prior to the Board meeting.  Once a video is submitted, substitutions of videos are not allowed.  FCC regulations govern all television broadcast material and prohibit obscene, indecent or profane audio or visual content. Videos not meeting this standard will be rejected.

 

 

Public Hearing

Public hearings are scheduled on specific topics, by the Board, at various times during the year.  An additional public hearing will be scheduled each fall and spring, either as part of the regular Board meetings or as separate meetings.  Additional hearings may be scheduled by the Board, as needed.  Speakers may not address issues scheduled for other public hearings (Budget, Capital Improvement Program, Boundary).  The number of speakers at these additional public hearings may be limited at the discretion of the Chair. Individuals may speak in-person or virtually at a public hearing but prerecorded video testimony is not permitted.

Speaker Time Limit

Each speaker shall limit his or her remarks to two minutes.

Upon request at the time of registration, Translation Services will be provided for speakers for whom English is not their preferred language and who will give testimony in a language other than English.

Written Testimony

While written testimony is not required, providing written comments allows the Board and the staff the advantage of further review of your comments. You may email your remarks to:  [email protected]

Speaker Substitution

Speaker substitutions are not permitted.  A speaker may not yield their time to another individual before or during their remarks.