[12] Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Arlington and Fauquier Counties shared the high school for black students.

[15] In 1954, the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education ordered an end to racial segregation.

Richmond removed any possibility of local option..."[19] It was recognized in court cases that it was the state who was running the show, not the county.

[21] Delegate Boatwright also introduced another bill aimed at correcting the unorthodox views of the northern Virginians.

[22] Boatwright's legislation would have prohibited certain federal employees from serving on school boards or holding other local offices.

District Judge Albert V. Bryan did not categorically rule out such plans in accepting the plaintiff's argument.

Since the black school population of Fairfax County was less than four percent, Bryan considered the fear of racial friction an unacceptable justification for such a cautious desegregation plan.

[22] The Civil Rights Commission report of 1962 found that "Every sign indicates that the communities in northern Virginia will be the first in the State to reach compliance with the mandate in the School Segregation Cases.

[25] The changeover to the 6–2–4 plan was the last major initiative of Superintendent W. T. Woodson, who retired in 1961, having served 32 years, the second-longest tenure as head of the Fairfax County Public Schools system.

[14] By 1967, Funderburk had put together a plan for five area offices, each serving a portion of the county and had appointed Woodson High School Principal Robert E. Phipps and West Springfield High School Principal S. John Davis as his first two administrators that December.

[14][29] Although the school board had endorsed Funderburk's plan, they also hired the consulting firm of Cresap, McCormick & Paget to conduct an audit of the system's management organization and operations.

In September 1970, Area Superintendent S. John Davis was chosen following a nationwide search to serve the remaining 33 months of Watts' four-year term.

[14] Additionally, families migrated from established eastern and central parts of the county to newer developments in the west and south, leading to the unenviable task of Davis having to request the closings of some schools while needing to build entirely new ones elsewhere.

[47] Deck had been a divisive figure during his 6+1⁄2 years in Orange County, with some residents glad to see him go, while others praised him as a strong and professional leader.

[48] Deck inherited the problem of needing to close underused schools that had first plagued Superintendent Davis.

[51][52] Fairfax County teachers' work to the rule action, which had begun in April 1979, was finally ended in May 1980.

[56] Controversy over Deck's handling of an investigation of recruiting violations by the Mount Vernon High School athletic department, his censure by the Fairfax Education Association for a mishandled school closing, unhappiness with his leadership style, which was characterized as "aggressive" and "abrasive", and pressure from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors angry at Deck's proposed budget led to the school board forcing Deck to resign on June 24, 1982, only 1+1⁄2 years into his four-year contract.

In 1993, the four-year-old teacher merit pay was suspended due to budget cuts, and the school board voted to phase the program out completely over the next four years at its March 11 meeting.

On January 2, 2009, Superintendent Jack D. Dale announced his decision on the issue, recommending changing the weights of advanced courses but maintaining the six-point grading scale.

Fairfax County Public Schools worked with the parent group to conduct a joint investigation into the issue.

On January 22, 2009, the FCPS School Board directed Superintendent Dale to report to it with a new version of the grading scale by March 2009.

[72] The board also approved changing the weighting for Honors to 0.5 effective with the 2009–2010 school year and for AP and IB courses to 1.0 retroactively.

[72] After investigation, the Fairfax County School Board approved a modified ten-point scale with pluses and minuses.

[78][79] After a year-long study, the school board voted to relax punishments for marijuana possession and add parental notification requirements for students facing serious disciplinary sanctions.

[80] In late 2022 and early 2023, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology was investigated by the State Attorney General Jason Miyares for withholding notification from parents that their children were awarded the National Merit Award, which made national headlines.

[82] For FCPS administrative and governance purposes, Fairfax County is organized into six geographically based regions (1 through 6).

Nine elected members are chosen from each magisterial district (Braddock, Dranesville, Franconia, Hunter Mill, Mason, Mount Vernon, Providence, Springfield, and Sully).

Lady (Dranesville), Marcia C. St. John-Cunning (Franconia), Melanie K. Meren (Hunter Mill), Ricardy J. Anderson (Mason), Mateo Dunne (Mount Vernon), Karl V. Frisch (Providence), Sandy B. Anderson (Springfield), Seema Dixit (Sully).

[84] Megan Sawant from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) serves as the non-voting student representative.