Nathan Brinkman | September 25, 2026
(EdNews Virginia) A conservative legal group is now probing Fairfax County Public Schools over its guidelines for educators on how to address the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the classroom.
America First Legal has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for internal documents from Virginia’s largest school division. The request is focused on communications that advised educators not to “center the extremists or the acts of the extremists” when discussing the attacks on their 25th anniversary earlier this month.
According to the guidance, educators were told not to associate the 9/11 attacks with radical Islam or Muslims. The division’s guide additionally suggested the formation of “safe spaces” for Muslim students.
Ian Prior, Senior Counsel for America First Legal, said the organization is using the FOIA request to determine who authored the guidance and whether outside organizations were involved.
Critics have accused Fairfax County Public Schools of “sanitizing history” by denying the historical reality of radical Islamic terrorism. Defenders of the school division’s guidance stress the need to shield Muslim students from stigmatization on the 9/11 anniversary.
When reached for comment by EdNews Virginia, Fairfax County Public Schools declined to answer questions. Instead, a spokeswoman referred to a public letter issued by Superintendent Michelle Reid on September 11 as the division’s “latest comment on this matter.”
In that message, Reid stated that “September 11 is deeply personal” for the community. While Reid noted the school division was “reviewing” materials in light of feedback, she defended the underlying intent of the controversial guidance, writing “the actions of terrorists should not define the entirety of any faith, culture, or community.”