Update: Fairfax County Public Schools announced Friday that it will join other school systems in the area in mandating vaccination against coronavirus for its teachers and other employees. By late October, FCPS staff will be required to show proof of vaccination or undergo regular testing in the absence of getting a vaccine.

The school system wrote in a statement that the move “reinforces existing layered prevention strategies and the division’s commitment to safety.” Students and teachers will also be required to wear masks indoors, remain socially distanced at lunch, and adhere to other COVID-19 safety measures.

FCPS originally delayed issuing a mandate while other local school systems released their own policies. The county’s first day of school is Monday, Aug. 23. A spokesperson for FCPS told DCist the school district doesn’t yet have a specific date in October for the vaccine requirement.

The school district said in its statement that the mandate will help it keep its commitment to providing in-person classes five days a week safely, and that it will give families and employees peace of mind.

“Knowing coworkers are either vaccinated or have tested negative for COVID-19 provides confidence and comfort so we can focus on our mission — educating kids,” the statement continued. “FCPS continues to promote vaccination for everyone, including our students, as soon as they are eligible.”

Parents and school officials weighed in online about the mandate on Friday.

“This was the right decision,” wrote Karl Frisch, a FCPS board member. “To keep our students safe and our schools running smoothly, it is critical that everyone in our community who is eligible gets vaccinated — not only our educators and school employees. That is how we will ultimately put this pandemic behind us.”

“It’s a hard year to send kids to school but at least I know my school district is doing everything they can to protect students and staff,” commented another resident.

Original: 

Public school officials in Fairfax County, Virginia, have adopted a litany of COVID-19 health and safety measures to protect children returning to classrooms this month, including a universal mask requirement, social distancing at lunch, and a virtual learning plan in case schools are forced to shut down again.

But there’s one policy Fairfax schools haven’t adopted yet: a vaccine mandate for teachers.

Public schools in Alexandria, Arlington County, Montgomery County, Prince George’s County and D.C. have already implemented vaccine requirements for educators and other school staff this fall. As the region’s largest public school system, Fairfax County is a notable holdout.

A spokesperson for Fairfax County Public Schools says the school district is collaborating with county leaders on the matter. “Discussions are ongoing and we are looking to make final decisions [on a vaccine requirement] next week,” the spokesperson wrote in an email to DCist/WAMU.

The first day of school in Fairfax County is next week, Aug. 23. Any school staff who aren’t vaccinated yet would run out of time to be fully vaccinated before classrooms reopen.

Other school systems have adopted vaccine requirements for educators following research showing that the unvaccinated are more likely than inoculated individuals to spread COVID-19. Children under the age of 12 don’t have approved access to vaccines yet, making them particularly vulnerable to the virus’ highly contagious delta variant.

The Fairfax County Federation of Teachers — a labor union that represents educators, counselors, and other public school staff in the county — said in a statement that it supports a vaccine requirement for school employees. It also favors requiring weekly COVID-19 testing for staff who cannot prove they’re vaccinated.

“Feedback from our members shows that there is strong support for a vaccine mandate among our membership,” the union wrote.

As of now, the school system does not know how many of its teachers are vaccinated, and it has not asked teachers to submit proof of inoculation. FCPS is relying on data that show around 90% of teachers in the district registered for vaccinations at clinics the school system held earlier this year.

“We don’t hold specific data on the actual number [of vaccinated teachers] but we would estimate it was higher than 90%,” an FCPS spokesperson tells DCist/WAMU.

Vaccination numbers in Fairfax County are also relatively high. More than 77% of adults have received at least one dose of vaccine, and more than 70% are fully vaccinated.

“We’re doing really well,” said Dr. Benjamin Schwartz, a medical epidemiologist with the Fairfax County Health Department, during a back-to-school town hall Monday evening.

The data have been reassuring to Karl Frisch, who represents the Providence District on the Fairfax County School Board. “Even if the number is south of 90%, we’re talking about a very large proportion of our staff who are vaccinated,” he says.

But Frisch says he would still like FCPS to try to close the gap by requiring all staff to show proof of vaccination or agree to regular COVID-19 testing. “I’ve communicated in writing to the superintendent that this is something I’d like to see happen,” he says.

Some Fairfax County school staff believe a vaccine mandate is already in place, even though one has not been implemented. Emmanuel Otchere, a 51-year-old janitor in the school system, received his second shot at a vaccine clinic at Justice High School two weeks ago.

“It has become something that everybody should do, especially where you work. If you don’t do it, they’re going to terminate your appointment,” Otchere told DCist/WAMU. “It’s something the government wants everybody to do, so you have to obey the law.”

County government staff in Fairfax are not required to be vaccinated or agree to regular COVID-19 testing before they return to work, though the Board of Supervisors recently called on County Executive Bryan Hill to “thoroughly explore” a requirement. Hill has not announced a mandate, and he did not return emails from WAMU/DCist seeking comment.

Community spread of COVID-19 is currently “substantial” in Fairfax County, with about 83 cases per 100,000 residents as of Aug. 16, according to the CDC. New COVID-19 hospital admissions are also rising, though fewer than 4 percent of ICU beds in the county are currently occupied by COVID patients.

A representative from the Fairfax County Parents Association, which calls itself a nonpartisan volunteer group of parents, says it has not taken a position on vaccine mandates for teachers. Christy Hudson, who answered an email from DCist/WAMU on behalf of the group, cast doubt on the idea that a mandate would make a real difference.

“A vaccine mandate for teachers in FCPS is unlikely to have any substantive effect on case trajectory or transmission within the county,” Hudson wrote.

The risk of transmission may be greater in jurisdictions to the west and south of Fairfax County, where vaccination rates are lower and viral spread is higher. Nearby Prince William County is currently experiencing a high rate of transmission, with 115 cases per 100,000 residents and 11% of ICU beds occupied by COVID patients, per the CDC.

Prince William has not adopted a vaccine mandate for county workers or educators, though students and staff will be required to wear masks once school begins there next week.

Margaret Barthel contributed reporting to this story.