A 16-year-old student was hospitalized with minor injuries Tuesday, Sept. 1, after a driver struck the teen while walking to South Lakes High School in Reston.

Fairfax County Police said officers responded at 7:54 a.m. A preliminary investigation found the driver hit the student near the school. The driver stayed at the scene and was charged with failure to stop before entering a highway, a traffic infraction punishable by a fine under the Code of Virginia, Patch reported.

Police said the student was not in a crosswalk and was not at a location that had ever been assigned a crossing guard. The investigation is ongoing.

The crash occurred less than two weeks after Fairfax County eliminated crossing guards at nine high schools, including South Lakes, as part of its fiscal year 2027 budget adopted May 5. The cut removed $1.89 million and 13 full-time positions from the Fairfax County Police Department's budget, as FFXnow reported in August.

School Board Member Melanie Meren, who represents the Hunter Mill District, said Tuesday's crash came on the seventh school day of the year. Meren told Patch she has visited South Lakes every morning since classes began, observing traffic during arrivals and dismissals.

"A student got hit by a car at South Lakes High School … day seven. Is it time yet, Jeff McKay? Is it time yet for a crossing guard at our high schools to protect our children and residents?" Meren said, directing her remarks at the Board of Supervisors chairman.

Meren described the area around South Lakes as particularly dangerous, with multiple lanes of traffic, trucks, school buses, cyclists and roughly 2,000 students converging on the campus. She disputed the police statement that the crash happened away from a former guard post, arguing that a crossing guard stationed farther up the road slows traffic flow for pedestrians along the entire stretch.

Reston Association Board President Travis Johnson called the crash an inevitable tragedy in a statement Tuesday. He urged the Board of Supervisors and School Board to work together on a solution. At an Aug. 27 board meeting, Johnson had warned of near-misses at the school, as we reported Aug. 29.

School Board Vice President Kyle McDaniel (At-Large) said in a statement that he was in talks with the superintendent, board members and supervisors to restore crossing guard functions through a mix of police officers, crossing guards, school resource officers and coordination with the Virginia Department of Transportation.

The crash came about a week after the Board of Supervisors held an extended discussion on the guard cuts. Supervisors unanimously directed county staff to examine safety problems at the affected schools and report urgent findings before the Tuesday, Sept. 15, carryover budget review. A proposal to set aside $400,000 for the issue was pulled from that motion after Chairman Jeff McKay questioned including a dollar figure before staff determined costs. The proposal's sponsor said he would submit the request separately.

McKay's office had not responded to Patch's request for comment on Tuesday's crash as of that outlet's publication. At the earlier supervisors meeting, McKay said police had surveyed the affected high schools and that Fairfax was the only Northern Virginia county providing crossing guards at high schools.

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to take up the fiscal year 2026 carryover package at its Tuesday, Sept. 15, meeting.