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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."

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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