On March 20, 2023, Fairfax County public school students at Irving Middle School received a “social emotional learning,” or SEL, lesson on Ramadan, a Muslim holiday. The lesson, which included a video about Ramadan and Islam, was not part of a wider religious studies or cultural traditions curriculum. Rather, it was the only religious instruction the students have received this school year.

The lesson is meant to address an SEL target based on survey information collected from students at two points during the year. A slide presentation of Irving’s SEL screener data revealed that school administrators structured SEL lessons, from which students are not permitted to opt out, to address supposed “gaps” in students’ learning. The SEL survey question that was the impetus for the Ramadan lesson was: “How often do you think about what someone of a different race, ethnicity, or culture experiences?”

Given the importance of the separation of church and state in the classroom, Islamic religious instruction to FCPS students is disconcerting, though not surprising. Controversial Fairfax County school board member Abrar Omeish, who told graduating high school seniors at Justice High School to remember their “jihad,” tweeted an anti-Israel statement, opposed honoring victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and referred to the battle of Iwo Jima as “evil,” is on record saying she intends to use her position to influence FCPS students on such sensitive matters. At a fundraising event for American Muslims for Palestine on Sept. 7, 2019, for example, Omeish delivered a speech and called on attendees to donate to her campaign. She bragged about the district’s $3.4 billion budget and its potential for influence. Then, she explicitly stated her objective:

Since Omeish took office in 2020, FCPS has added prayer rooms to schools, attempted to separate spring break from Easter , and now has added a lesson on Ramadan and Islam to its curriculum.

This is far from the only example of radical FCPS officials using their SEL agenda to force a certain set of values onto children and their families. Irving Middle School provided another questionable SEL lesson on “white privilege” in March to address the SEL target question, “How confident are you that students at your school can have honest conversations with each other about race?”

Curricula based on religious rituals, or others concerning possibly divisive content, likely violate Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R-VA) Executive Order One . Parents and concerned citizens aware of this questionable content aggressively pushed into the public school curriculum are wondering when Youngkin will begin enforcing Virginia state laws in defiant school districts. In a March 2023 meeting with FCPS Superintendent Michelle Reid, for example, a parent asked how the school district is adjusting its curriculum content to follow Executive Order One. Reid answered that FCPS has “chosen to follow a different path.” Not only are individual schools and administrators teaching SEL lessons that violate Executive Order One, but the district’s superintendent, the top FCPS administrator, has stated publicly that she is choosing to ignore it.

As a spectator at many children’s sporting events, it’s common to hear parents’ disappointment at some referees’ lack of penalty calls. They say things such as, “Well, I guess if the ref doesn’t call it, it’s legal.” In the same way, Virginia parents like myself are wondering about the purpose of Executive Order One. If blatant violations aren’t addressed, what’s the point of issuing the order in the first place?

Stephanie Lundquist-Arora is a mother in Fairfax County, Virginia, an author, and a member of Independent Women’s Network.