School board directs superintendent to prepare project labor agreement pilot for upcoming capital project

The Fairfax County School Board voted unanimously to direct the superintendent to prepare a project labor agreement pilot for an upcoming capital project to be included for board consideration as part of the Fairfax County Public Schools 2027–2031 Capital Improvement Program.

The board said the pilot is intended to test PLA terms that could promote local hiring, workforce stability and apprenticeship opportunities while protecting taxpayer investments in construction projects. The motion directs staff to return a proposed PLA pilot for board review as part of the CIP; the board did not adopt a PLA itself at the meeting.

Mister Frish, a Fairfax County School Board member, introduced the forum topic and said his research — posted in the meeting forum — showed PLAs are "essentially pre hire agreements that ensure uniform wage and benefit standards" and that they "promote workplace stability" and "increase access to small women owned minority owned and veteran owned businesses." He told colleagues the research he reviewed found that, in several large studies, PLAs did not increase construction costs and did not reduce the number of bidders, and that they may save resources by avoiding delays.

Mister Moon, a board member, asked for specifics about contract provisions, asking, "how are you gonna be dictating certain amount of salary and benefits as part of the proposal from future developers or any construction project?" Mister Frish said those stipulations — including hiring locally — could be part of a superintendent-crafted proposal and that local hiring would help invest in and stabilize the regional construction workforce.

Miss Sizemore Heizer, a board member, said PLAs can help ensure quality work and reduce costly stoppages. "They are often ensuring a consistent supply of skilled labor who feel respected on the job and more likely to do a good job and finish on time and on budget," she said, and added she would like the pilot to include workforce-development connections allowing students to pursue apprenticeships or internships on work sites.

Board discussion also cited a recent local example: Fairfax County’s Accotink pump station, where an initial county engineer estimate was described in the meeting as "about 90 some million dollars" while the PLA contract awarded for the project was described as being "in the seventies," language the board used to illustrate potential cost differences associated with PLA use.

The motion that passed instructs the superintendent to prepare a PLA pilot in alignment with internal executive limitation policies cited by the board and to present the proposed pilot for inclusion in the CIP for board consideration. The motion was moved by Mister Frish and seconded by Miss Sizemore Heizer; Mister Anderson, a board member, announced the vote was unanimous for all board members present.

Next steps: the superintendent will develop the PLA proposal and return it to the board as part of the 2027–2031 CIP process for formal consideration. The board did not set a date for the superintendent’s return of the proposal and did not adopt any PLA terms at this meeting.