Updated at 6:20 p.m. on July 7.

Amid concerns about a lack of clarity in reopening plans, Fairfax County Public Schools will extend the deadline for families and staff to decide between the district’s two options for the coming school year.

FCPS is offering a choice between all-virtual learning or a hybrid model where kids would have some amount of in-person learning mixed with online work. The deadline to choose between one or the other has been extended from July 10 to July 15, Superintendent Scott Braband announced Monday night during a virtual town hall.

“We’ve heard overwhelmingly from our parents and community that you want more time to make these decisions,” Brabrand said.

In turn, the superintendent will propose moving the school year’s start date until after Labor Day, to ensure staff have enough time to prepare for a new year of educating students in the middle of a public health crisis.

Over the course of the town hall, administrators fielded questions about issues like social distancing in classrooms, childcare and support for students with special needs. And Brabrand promised to release more information this week about safety protocols like possible temperature checks and how lunchtime will work.

With July 15 fast approaching, families in Virginia’s largest school system are grappling with a major decision that can affect their child’s learning and their whole family’s health.

For those who select the fully online option, kids will have scheduled virtual learning four days a week and one day of independent work. FCPS says it will try to arrange for elementary and middle school students to have dedicated online-only staff.

For children who go back to physical school as part of the hybrid model, the district says it will implement state and federal safety protocols, with enhanced cleaning and social distancing in classrooms and on buses. The FCPS website gives a sample schedule of two days per week at school, and the other three at home.

Since FCPS released its reopening plans in late June, some parents and three teachers unions have expressed concern about a lack of sufficient information to make this important decision.

In a joint letter, the unions said that “given overwhelming educator concern with the ability of FCPS to keep employees and students safe,” they advise members to state a preference for continued distance learning until the district provides enough information for everyone to make informed choices.

During the town hall, several parents asked about the district’s requirement that families commit to virtual or hybrid learning for the full academic year. Brabrand has said that if parents try to switch midway through the year, it could throw off staffing levels. If children switch to the in-school option midway through the year, he said, it could take staff away from online-only students — and if students leave their in-person classes, the virtual class sizes could become too large.

Brabrand added that if health conditions deteriorate, schools are prepared to pivot to online learning for everyone — and, conversely, if conditions dramatically improve, they could welcome all students back in-person.

The superintendent also offered some advice to families concerned about their children wearing a mask for several hours a day. FCPS guidance says staff and students will wear face coverings “where developmentally appropriate.”

“Ask them to wear the mask during the day for about six hours,” he said, “Let them go online, watch TV, talk on the phone to friends. That can help you figure out whether they’ll be comfortable because they will be asked to wear a mask during the day when they return.”

Brabrand also acknowledged concerns about the level of in-person learning — two days per week. It’s largely a capacity issue, he said.

In new guidelines released Monday, Virginia officials said that when six feet of distancing is not feasible in schools, students can wear masks at a three-foot distance. This provides some extra flexibility, but for now FCPS has to plan for two days of instruction, Brabrand said.

He also promised the district would release more information this week about additional safety protocols. In terms of health screenings, Brabrand did say that students who arrive at school without a mask will get a temperature check and that parents should run through the CDC coronavirus questionnaire with their kids every day.

Still, Kimberly Adams, president of the Fairfax Education Association, has more questions she wants district leaders to answer about how both learning models will function.

She says the union requested Brabrand hold a town hall-style event specifically for teachers. “We’re still concerned … that he’s not hearing directly from staff and answering staff questions.”

For example, Brabrand said students who experience COVID-like symptoms at school will wait in an “isolation room” for someone to pick them up.

“We want to know who’s going to be responsible for students who are put into isolation because they have symptoms during the day. We want to know what classrooms are going to look like … Are we going to be allowed to have classroom libraries where we circulate books to our students? Are we going to have any shared materials?”

Adams also worries that if more families than employees express a preference for the partial in-person option, then some teachers who don’t feel safe in the classroom will be compelled to return, to help balance out staffing needs.

As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, around 67% of students who had submitted their preferences (about a third) chose the in-person option, according to data that school board member Melanie Meren posted on Facebook. Meanwhile, 54% of staff have selected the in-person model so far.

Additionally, Adams wants more clarity on the protocol when someone gets sick, including who gets notified and what it takes to shut down a classroom.

Brabrand touched on this issue during the town hall.

“I know one of the things the community wants to know is well, why or how will you decide whether to close a classroom or a school or a group of schools?” he said, explaining it would depend on the results of the contact tracing investigation and how much time a student spent on campus, interacting with others.

The district is also working closely with county officials on plans for contact tracing in schools. “We are hiring more [tracers] in Fairfax County so that they will be there to help support our students, just like the rest of the community,” Brabrand said.

This story was updated with comments from Kimberly Adams and data on the number of families and teachers who have selected in-person or virtual learning.