After a public hearing that blended curriculum and land development concerns, Fairfax County supervisors decided to wait until August to vote on the Islamic Saudi Academy expansion.
Under the plan, the school would add four buildings, expanding its campus on 34 acres along Popes Head Road to accommodate 500 students. To reduce traffic congestion on Popes Head Road, the plan will require all students to ride buses to school.
Over 50 people spoke at a public hearing on the development Monday, expressing concerns over everything from the school’s curriculum, to its septic system, to the traffic the expansion would add to the neighborhood. Some of the curriculum-based concerns were sparked by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s 2007 report that the the school taught religious intolerance.
The Board of Supervisors closed the public hearing, but left the public record open. The supervisors will vote on the plan at their August 3 meeting.
