Government Relations

Government Relations serves as a liaison between FCPS and state and national policymakers, including the Virginia General Assembly and the Virginia State Board of Education, in order to achieve the legislative goals of the School Board and promote the positive leadership of the school division regarding education policy and financing.

Government Relations both monitors and participates in ongoing legislative and policy debates at the state and federal level based primarily on the School Board’s Legislative program via regular communication with the School Board, FCPS staff, state, federal, and local officials, other school divisions, and other education-related organizations. This input focuses on the potential impact of state and federal decisions on FCPS students, staff, and the community at large and how the decisions may impact the larger mission of the school division. Staff members regularly attend and monitor relevant legislative and policy events, which include travel to Capitol Hill and Richmond, as well as the maintenance of a full-time presence in Richmond during the annual session of the Virginia General Assembly.

School Board State and Federal Legislative Program

The School Board adopts a legislative program each year to communicate its positions on key policy issues. This program outlines the Board's stances on significant state and federal matters. FCPS has identified the most critical issues for FCPS as "priorities".

Virginia Board of Education 

The Constitution of Virginia empowers the Virginia Board of Education with the general supervision of the public school system.  This includes responsibility for (subject to General Assembly approval) the major regulations governing public education in Virginia, such as the Standards of Quality, the Standards Accreditation, the Standards of Learning accountability program, and teacher licensure regulations.

The Virginia Board of Education typically meets eight times a year (January, March, April, June, July, September, October, November).