The Washington Examiner has this article about the Saudi Academy—a Saudi-funded school in Fairfax County of Northern Virginia. Last year, the USG-funded Commission on International Religious Freedom called for the closing of the school because, it claimed, it taught extremism. That was too much, even for The Washington Post, which editorialized against the call.

Now, the appropriate local government authorities have completed their investigation into the school and voted unanimously to extend the school’s lease. The report notes that both the Commission and State Dept. continue to review the texts.

Supervisors OK lease extension for Islamic academy in Fairfax
William C Flook

WASHINGTON (Map, News) – Fairfax County supervisors voted unanimously Monday to extend the lease of a Saudi prep school that a federal panel recommended closing last year unless the school could prove it wasn’t promoting religious violence.

Supervisors rejected criticism from opponents of the Islamic Saudi Academy’s school who urged against the extension of the lease until the State Department finished its review of the school’s texts. The review comes after an October report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which based its recommendations on the violent curriculum of Saudi-based schools.

Mount Vernon District Supervisor Gerald Hyland, who ordered a county-level review of the materials after the commission’s report, fiercely rebutted opponents at a public hearing before the vote.

“I didn’t come away with the impression that hate was being taught at the academy, second that they were training terrorists, and that they were doing anything other than teaching young children in a fashion that is to be an example for others,” he said.

Hyland, however, did qualify his statements: “I would be less than frank if I didn’t tell you that the curriculum does contain references to the Quran, which, if taken out of context and read literally, would cause come concern.”
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