Fairfax County School Board Comprehensive Planning and Development Committee (CPDC) members debated and defeated a motion asking the Facilities Planning Advisory Committee (FPAC) to move the content of its FPAC charter into FPAC’s bylaws and submit a redlined bylaws draft to CPDC.

A CPDC member proposed the motion, recorded in the meeting transcript as: "I move that CPDC request FPAC to move the content of the FPAC charter into its bylaws and bring to CPDC a redlined version of its bylaws reflecting the incorporation of the content from the FPAC charter." The mover later did not identify themselves by name on the record.

The motion mattered because it would have changed how FPAC documents its purpose and procedures. FPAC Chair Katie Herman told the committee that FPAC has both a charter and bylaws and that historically the charter and bylaws were developed collaboratively with the school board. She said FPAC’s bylaws govern operational details such as meeting procedures and membership, while the charter functions more like a constitution that establishes FPAC’s mission and scope. "Bylaws, again, up until this point, those were, updated and maintained by FPAC," Herman said.

Members questioned whether switching to a single bylaws document would alter FPAC’s current member-selection process, which Herman and staff said is codified in Policy 1710 and the Community Advisory Committee operating manual. "If FPAC were to have bylaws instead of both bylaws and charter, would it impact how members are selected?" a committee member asked. Herman responded that FPAC’s application and selection procedures are spelled out in Policy 1710 and the operating manual and that changes to selection processes would be a topic CPDC could discuss with FPAC.

Several members argued FPAC’s membership selection and role are different from other advisory committees and that a separate charter reflects that distinction. One committee member said the motion appeared to be "a solution in search of a problem" given FPAC’s unique selection process. The deputy clerk (Kevin Jackson) clarified that FPAC approves its own bylaws and that while CPDC can request a draft, CPDC would not be the approval authority for FPAC bylaws.

When put to a vote, the motion failed. The meeting transcript records that some members opposed and at least one member abstained; no formal roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript. The chair declared, "The motion fails." The committee then agreed to table further action on the topic to the next meeting.

The discussion also included procedural notes earlier in the meeting: a separate, earlier attempt to request that the school board remove the FPAC charter from the school board consent agenda was withdrawn by the mover after members noted the charter had already been taken off consent.

Looking ahead, FPAC representatives said they would continue to work with the school board and CPDC. FPAC is preparing its annual report and requested feedback from CPDC on topics FPAC should study next year. CPDC asked staff to place related items on future agendas so the committees could coordinate any recommended changes to FPAC governance.