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Collective bargaining rights were extended to Fairfax County Public Schools employees with a vote Thursday…

Mount Vernon District representative Karen Corbett Sanders introduced a motion seconded by At-Large member Abrar Omeish to develop a process for considering more bargaining units. The School Board voted to seek that process by Sept. 1.

School board member Abrar Omeish said last summer that the program had been in the works for more than a year. She said she assembled a student working group with representatives from every high school to seek feedback on the county’s plans.

School board member Abrar Omeish said last summer that the program had been in the works for more than a year. She said she assembled a student working group with representatives from every high school to seek feedback on the county’s plans.

At-large board member Abrar Omeish noted that FCPS paused consideration of boundary adjustments in 2018 so the school board could update its policy, though no changes have been adopted even after a consultant presented a final report on Dec. 14, 2021.

“I’m excited to see when that will be coming forward, but…in the meantime, [at] Kent Gardens, the problem there has only grown, and we haven’t been able to address it, so this is an opportunity to do that,” Omeish said.

“That employee compensation piece does strike me as a place where our system is bleeding,” school board member Abrar Omeish said. “The more we prolong it and push it, the worse off we’re going to be. Five years from now, if we look back and we’re like, ‘What happened to the FCPS brand? How did we break?’ COVID was a moment, but really, I think that our decisions in the aftermath of that, including this piece right now, are important.”

Fairfax County School Board member Abrar Omeish helped move the discussion along, and said it was important for district leaders to learn what more they can do for the community… “When we talk about access to food, spaces, curriculum that’s reflective of the identities people bring by to the table - prayer accommodations, spaces, times throughout the day when kids want to pray - the professional development and training needed to make sure our staff understand how to best serve our students,” Omeish said. "It ultimately impacts the academic progress of students and the mental health as they perform in class."

Omeish said more events like this series of community conversations will only improve relationships between the district and families. "We live in a county that speaks over 180 languages, people from all walks of life representing almost every country around the world," Omeish said. "We shouldn't be waiting for folks to come out and speak. We need to meet them where they're at."

The Fairfax County School Board passed a resolution on inclusive education at its meeting Thursday (Oct. 20), leaving aside an earlier version that  included references to social justice, equity and antiracism.

The 7-4 vote came with much back and forth about topics including board procedure and the resolution’s timeline.

The four members who voted against the amended resolution — Mason District Representative Ricardy Anderson, Hunter Mill District Representative Melanie Meren and members-at-large Abrar Omeish and Karen Keys-Gamarra — had expressed support for its original iteration.

She criticized the amendment as “[shying] away” from those difficult conversations by not including the words “anti-racist,” “equity,” and “truth.” In a statement to WAMU/DCist on Friday, Anderson said the Board “missed the opportunity to signal our commitment to anti-racist, justice and equity based work which is of great concern to me” and noted that the board is about to begin work on a division-wide equity policy.

At-large member Karen Keys-Gamarra, Hunter Mill District representative Melanie Meren, and at-large member Abrar Omeish offered similar criticisms of the revision. They were joined by student representative Michele Togbe, who said her own educational experience in Fairfax supported the need for clear language around equity and antiracism.

“Students are seeing this,” she said. “Amending it to the weak and hollow statements and words doesn’t make sense to me…I really am urging you guys to get this right.”

As part of the $3.3 billion budget, school board officials allocated $500,000 for telehealth mental health services for students. The Virginia county is still in the early stages of identifying a vendor for the services, but county officials said program possibilities include access to physical and behavioral health providers and mobile services that would allow students to use their devices for symptom management or tracking.

School board member Abrar Omeish said the program has been in the works for over a year, and that she and the board assembled a student mental health working group with representatives from every high school to seek feedback on the initiative.

The school system’s Department of Special Services is evaluating potential vendors to offer the virtual mental health services to students, and Omeish said the department expects the program to begin next school year. The program, Omeish said, is intended to be similar to the county’s partnership with Tutor.com, which provides students with virtual tutoring help.

The concept, Omeish said, stems largely from the collegiate approach to mental health, which in many cases includes an app that enables students to access therapy appointments or round-the-clock support.

The world could use more Abrars, and will get them as her example inspires others to run for and win at all levels of government. In the meantime, I'll settle for seeing how the Abrar I am fortunate to call a friend chooses to make a meaningful difference next.

The Virginia Coalition for Human Rights strongly supports Fairfax County School Board Member Abrar Omeish and opposes any attempts to defame or silence her from speaking out for the rights of Palestinians and Arab and Muslim Americans.

"I've been so lucky to know someone with such a pure heart," Le said. "I have never met someone as committed to equity as Ms. Abrar Omeish. She stands up for every student in this county "regardless of their race, nationality, sexual orientation, gender or able-bodiedness."

"She inspires us to keep fighting, to keep fighting against systems of oppression in which have tied us down for too long," Le said.

We have seen a degradation in public discourse over the past few decades and it is disappointing to see many people unwilling to listen to each other. The few who are trying to spark outrage and cause divide without ever having a cordial discussion and an open mind, are not helping anyone. If you still doubt this op-ed, I encourage you to just sit down with Abrar over a lunch and have a discussion.

As a Fairfax County parent, I applaud any School Board member who will join the chorus against such injustice wherever it is found. Palestinian children are just as deserving of a future as our children, and any policy based on justice must not ignore their plight.

Targeting Arab Americans with accusations of bigotry or deadly antisemitism simply because of political criticisms of the Israeli government is a form of Arab baiting—a decades-old tactic used to exclude Arab American voices from civic spaces and to silence advocacy for Palestinian human rights.

Jewish Voice for Peace Action stands in solidarity with Fairfax County (Virginia) School Board Member Abrar Omeish, and we thank her for voicing truth in expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people. The Palestinians are facing yet another brutal attack by Israel, which has resulted in the killing of more than 200 civilians, including dozens of children, during holy days.

More than 100 people showed up Thursday night at a Fairfax County School Board meeting to express their support for Member-at-Large Abrar Omeish, who on March 13 tweeted her opposition to the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians.

And remember the nation we walk upon,

Was shaped by people all long gone.

And thereupon, when it sinks to rubble,

Hope prevails, and prosperity’s double,

So have hope and remember, to get in

good trouble.

These Gen Z activists are taking on the world one community at a time. Jakhil Jackson, Ja’Mal Green, Nicholas Lowinger, Jack Witherspoon and Abrar Omeish are tackling specific issues like poverty, education and gun violence by giving voice to America’s — too often silenced — youth.

The question of which religious celebrations merit school holidays continued to roil Fairfax County Public Schools this week, as the School Board on Tuesday directed the superintendent to scrap several proposed 2021-2022 calendars and develop a new one. The order came after hours of debate, during which board members weighed the pros and cons of adding four religious holidays — Jewish celebrations Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Hindu festival Diwali and the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr. The idea of giving time off for these holidays was first proposed by a board-appointed task force last year.

COVID-19 vaccinations, the state budget, and the question of how to get students and teachers back in schools are among the many items on the agenda for Virginia lawmakers this year, as the General Assembly prepares to convene for a truncated 46-day session.

At-large school board member Abrar Omeish said Shrevewood’s over-capacity is not as stark as schools like Glen Forest Elementary School, which has “more kids in trailers than in the building” and a 75% poverty rate.

“When people say that we focus more on schools that have more than the ones that don’t, I can’t refute that,” she said.

Last night, after seemingly months of debate on the topic, the Fairfax County School Board finally debated and voted on “options for revising the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) admissions process.” For some background on this issue, click here.

At-Large School Board Representative Abrar Omeish questioned what data FCPS is relying on to be confident that a new restraint and seclusion policy will be implemented properly.

“I worry about relying on this information, when we have reason to believe that it is not reliable,” she said. “We should imagine the worst-case scenario and put in place the checks that are going to hold us accountable to make sure we’re not wronging kids in the process.”

I am grateful for the privilege to serve and do good for Fairfax and for the trust of our community. I am grateful for family and love that are too often taken for granted, for health and sustenance that God provides without due praise, and for the chance to try again with every new day. – Abrar Omeish, Fairfax County School Board Member-at-Large

Following the press conference with the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, School Board member Abrar Omeish spoke to WUSA 9 and said schools would be held to strict sanitizing guidelines to make sure students and staff stayed safe.

"It’s a very controlled set of folks and it’s going to be done with all the best practice measures and sanitation," she said. "It’s a slow phase-in. There’s a reason for that. It allows us to roll back should there be any reason to be concerned.”

Braddock District Representative Megan McLaughlin voted against adopting the amendment. Rachna Sizemore Heizer, Abrar Omeish, and Karen Keys-Gamarra, the board’s three at-large members, abstained after raising concerns about a lack of flexibility for handling Title IX cases based on students’ varying needs or circumstances.

"Staff members should not have to decide between protecting their family and keeping their jobs," said Emily Vanderhoff, a first-grade teacher and union leader.

Abrar Omeish, an at-large school board member said she is also worried about losing teachers.

The board resolution called for the superintendent to give data on the number of teachers who might resign if they're forced to return to school buildings — and suggested teachers with vulnerable family members might be able to take a leave of absence.

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While the decision is ultimately Brabrand's, some school board members say they have wanted this all along.

"The board itself has been conflicted since the beginning. Some of us have felt, including myself, that the virtual option is preferred as a start," school board member Abrar Omeish said.

Families and teachers were told to choose between either an all-virtual learning plan or a plan that combined in-person learning with distance learning.