In 2021, Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors passed a sanctuary policy, the “Public Trust and Confidentiality Policy,” making the northern Virginia county one of 84 sanctuary areas for illegal immigrants in the state.

The ramifications of this policy — and of similar sanctuary policies nationwide — have been dire, especially for lawful citizens who end up paying the cost, both financially and physically.  

Across the nation, there are about 220 sanctuary cities and counties and 13 sanctuary states. Taxpayers in these sanctuary areas are likely unaware of the costs associated with their “hospitality” because local leaders are hiding information regarding crime, the decline in public education, and local budgetary expenditures.

As just one example, among the 199 schools in Fairfax County where administrators earlier this year posted signs informing students and families who had illegally entered the country how to evade Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents is Fairfax County Adult High School, a publicly-funded school. This year, the school has a 92.5% English Language Learner (ELL) population among its 226 students. And according to a Fairfax County Public Schools employee, it is “filled with illegal immigrants.”

In other words, Fairfax County taxpayers are subsidizing a school for illegal adult immigrants to learn English within the sanctuary county.

The data support this claim. Following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the district provided data to IW Features on the number of Fairfax County Adult High School’s students listed in the Student Information System database as “E1Q” or ”E1R.” Students labeled E1Q arrived that year from a different country without a disruption in learning. Those labeled E1R arrived from a foreign country and have a disruption in learning. An 18-year-old student arriving from Honduras, for example, might not have attended school since he was 12. 

By design, local sanctuary policies prevent residents from knowing with certainty which students are in the United States legally. The data, however, show that an increasing number of the students at Fairfax County Adult High School were new to the country, as they arrived to the sanctuary county during the era of former President Joe Biden’s open southern border.

Newly Arrived Students at Fairfax County Adult High School

*Sourced through FOIA by Lundquist-Arora

It is worth noting that if an undocumented student had been enrolled in any of America’s high schools for the previous year, he would not be entered into the system as “E1Q.” This is simply one data point to indicate that the number of “newly arrived” immigrants in this school has grown during Biden’s open southern border policy.   

Fairfax County Adult High School is not intended simply to be an English language learning program for adults of any residency status. According to the district, the accredited high school, which opened in 1980, “provides adults aged 18 years and older the opportunity to attain a standard, advanced, or an adult high school diploma that meet FCPS graduation requirements by offering a rolling enrollment and flexible scheduling with traditional classes and online, blended, and independent learning.”

Educating a growing number of English language learners is expensive, particularly in Fairfax County. The per pupil annual cost in the proposed fiscal 2026 budget is $20,172, plus an extra $5,572 per student for English language services. A publicly subsidized annual tuition of $25,744 per illegally immigrated adult attending Fairfax County Adult High School likely is not where most of the county’s residents would choose to direct their tax dollars. And there are certainly less expensive options for basic English language programs.  

Despite its enormous budget, which amounts to at least $7.8 million in Fiscal Year 2026 when including operating costs and full-time employees’ salaries, Fairfax County Adult High School has several significant performance problems. Over the last three years, its drop-out rate averaged 75%. Meanwhile, in the last three years, an average of 74% of the school’s students were chronically absent, meaning that they missed 10% or more of their school days. Both the drop-out rate and rate of chronic absenteeism are accountability metrics for accreditation in Virginia, making it likely that Fairfax County Adult High School could soon lose accreditation.

Adding insult to injury, taxpayers likely are funding education for students at this school beyond their legal requirements. By law, students who meet special education eligibility criteria are entitled to a public education appropriate to their needs at no cost to their families (from birth until 22 years old in the state of Virginia). In Fairfax County, students with limited English proficiency are granted free public education until they are 22 years old (Regulation 2202.12). Meanwhile, other students in Virginia pursuing a diploma or high school equivalency without disabilities and with English proficiency are entitled to a free public education until the age of 20.

So, while Fairfax County Adult High School, according to legal requirements, is supposed to admit only students up to 22 years old free of tuition, they do not mandate paperwork to prove age, according to a former FCPS employee who spoke with IW Features. Many people arriving illegally from other countries do not have documentation. The former FCPS employee added, “[FCPS officials] don’t truly verify documents. It’s really any age.”

On Feb. 26, I contacted the school’s registration administrator to request information about tuition and potential low-income waivers for students who are 22 and older. The staff member informed me via email that there were not any low-income waivers. She wrote, “So far, I don’t have any waiver for low-income students.”

Later that day, I contacted Michelle Morgan, listed as the administrator of Fairfax County Adult High School, with several questions about student tuition and school performance. Afterward, an inside source informed me that on Feb. 27, Morgan held a meeting during which she instructed teachers and staff at the school that they are not allowed to speak with me.

Next, I emailed Sandy Anderson, vice chair of the Fairfax County School Board, to clarify whether or not there were students in the Fairfax County Adult High School who are 22 years old or over and whether they pay tuition or have low-income waivers. Anderson forwarded my inquiry to the superintendent, Michelle Reid, and the district’s chief of schools, Geovanny Ponce. As of the date of publication, school leadership has not responded to my inquiry.

The district’s non-responsiveness on the issue, coupled with Morgan’s draconian efforts to muzzle her staff, seem to confirm that Fairfax County Adult High School admits students of all ages and immigration statuses at Fairfax County taxpayers’ expense. Even worse, the district’s leaders are trying to keep it a secret. 

As Fairfax County residents face a looming budget crisis, district leaders must take a hard look at its flagrant spending. Is it appropriate, for example, to fund a failing high school in which a majority of students likely are adult illegal immigrants who are chronically absent and then drop out? Such feel-good projects are not the best way to spend limited taxpayer funds.  

Stephanie Lundquist-Arora is a contributor for The Federalist and the Washington Examiner; a mother in Fairfax County, Va.; an author; and the Fairfax chapter leader of the Independent Women’s Network. Her articles also have appeared in Washington Times, National Review, Fox News Digital, The Daily Signal and Townhall.