Last Friday, a lawsuit was filed against the Fairfax County School Board and Fairfax County Public Schools over the content of emails released under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (VFOIA) regarding the recent closure of Clifton Elementary School. This lawsuit will require Fairfax County Public Schools to release the secret emails and other electronic communications relevant to the Clifton Elementary School closure. After the release of the information is made public, the lawsuit asks the Court to compel the board to hold a public meeting to reconsider and vote again on the Clifton closure.

The lawsuit centers around public hearings that were held last year in June and July, and according to the filing, “School Board members exchanged substantive e-mails among each other in secret relating to the matters being addressed during the public meetings.” A decision was reached by the Fairfax County School Board to close Clifton Elementary School. The lawsuit further states that the school board violated VFOIA and further deprived members of the community from hearing the discussions among the board members on public business.

You can read some of the emails here.

It is sad that Clifton Elementary School will be closing at the end of the year, and hopefully, the decision can be reversed as the school is central in the community.