Fairfax, Va., Board Approves Saudi Academy Plan

Zoning Exemption Opposed by Some Neighbors, Activists
By Michael Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 4, 2009

A Saudi-funded academy was granted a zoning exemption Monday that allows it to expand at its 34-acre Popes Head Road campus in Fairfax County, culminating a years-long campaign to enlarge the school at that location.

Hearings this spring and summer on the Islamic Saudi Academy's plans drew scores of speakers and brought together in opposition an uneasy alliance of neighbors and critics of the school's curriculum. Many of the neighbors fought the expansion because of traffic concerns. Some of the other opponents came from as far as Florida to speak against the school because of ideological concerns about what it teaches.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, whose permission was required for the expansion, stressed Monday that the 6 to 4 decision was based on zoning questions, not on what happens in the school's classrooms. the rest