Officials have granted a zoning exemption that will allow a Saudi-funded academy to expand its campus. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, which voted 6-4 Monday to grant the exemption, emphasized that the decision was made on zoning issues. Scores of people spoke at hearings in the spring and summer on the academy's plans. Some neighbors were against the expansion because of traffic worries. Others opposed the plans because of ideological concerns about what the school teaches. “The community will get an awful lot of development,” said supervisor Penelope A. Gross. “I think (it) will improve the community.” The approval drew jeers from critics of the academy. Jim Lafferty, one of the critics, vowed political retaliation against the supervisors who supported it. The academy was founded in 1984 and has some 1,000 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12. It is the only Saudi-funded school in the United States. About 80 percent of its students are US citizens from the area's Muslim communities. Most students attend classes at a second campus in the Alexandria section of Fairfax. The plans granted approval on Monday permit construction of a building that would eventually accommodate 500 students. Despite reservations in some quarters, students, parents and teachers have said the school does not teach intolerance. “Throughout my whole time in ISA, I've never been taught to hate anyone,” said Heba Rashed, 16, a junior at the school. Attorney Lynne Strobel, who represented the academy, said she was pleased with the vote and said the school has undertaken efforts to reduce some of the potential traffic.
