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Justice High School community urges FCPS to address severe parking shortages and neighborhood impacts
Summary
Parents, volunteers and Justice High School community members asked FCPS to use the CIP to address parking and transportation shortfalls at Justice High School, including recommending an acquisition of part of Peace Valley Lane and consideration of structured parking for urbanizing schools.
Community members from the Justice High School pyramid told the Fairfax County School Board that the school's recent expansion left Justice with just 52 parking spaces for more than 1,000 driving‑age students, creating safety, equity and neighborhood tensions and limiting school events.
Why it matters: Justice is the county's only Title I high school; speakers said parking and pedestrian safety issues affect students' ability to work, attend activities and arrive safely, and they urged the CIP to fund solutions and early planning with urban design consultants.
Jeff Longo, co‑chair of the Justice High School Pyramid work group, said the work group — formed as a proffer condition after the school expansion — concluded that FCPS staff told them the county lacked legislative authority to pursue use of the north–south portion of Peace Valley Lane for school parking after discussions with VDOT and FCDOT. Longo asked the board to direct staff to acquire the eastern half of northbound Peace Valley Lane from the state and dedicate it for school parking during school hours, and to add acquisition provisions to the CIP update.
Mark Dainert, a Justice working‑group member and longtime volunteer, referenced Board Policy 8110.4 and said the five‑year CIP should include transportation and safety alternatives tied to capacity planning; he urged FCPS to incorporate safe routes assessments and transportation solutions into CIP planning. Sherry Blackburn, a parent and director of the school’s food pantry, said limited parking has pushed students to park in neighborhood streets and has caused tensions with neighbors, and that many Justice students hold jobs and need reliable parking.
Speakers recommended that FCPS consider structured parking for urbanizing school sites, consult urban planners early in project design, and use the CIP to correct what they called a planning shortfall that has strained students and the surrounding community.
Ending: The Justice community asked the board to use the CIP update to fund acquisitions or design changes and to explicitly include transportation and parking assessments in future capital planning.
