More than 20% of staff at D.C. Public Schools remains unvaccinated after the deadline mandating all teachers, staff, and some student athletes be fully vaccinated with no option to test out of the requirement.

As of Monday, 79% of DCPS staff is vaccinated, including 85% of all teachers, according to data released by DCPS. DCPS staff with medical or religious exemptions are considered to be in compliance with the mandate, according to DCPS officials. It’s not currently clear how many teachers or school staff have applied for a medical or religious exemption to the vaccine, though NBC 4 reported last week that 268 school staffers had asked for one — a small fraction of the more than 7,000 staff employed by the District.

Bowser announced the mandate with the Nov. 1 deadline at the start of the school year, but, at the time, did not state if there would be any repercussions if school employees were not compliant.

In a statement, the school system said it’s working with its remaining staff and taking “appropriate action.”

“Staff who are not fully vaccinated or have not received an exemption and work regularly in schools are subject to progressive discipline after November 1,” the statement said. DCPS officials clarified with DCist/WAMU that school employees not in compliance would receive a warning letter to start. No employee would be immediately dismissed from their position for failing to be vaccinated.

John Falcicchio, D.C.’s Deputy Mayor, told NBC 4 Washington that they’ll continue to emphasize the importance of getting vaccinated.

“Our message to the workforce is that we really want you to understand the importance of getting vaccinated. We want you to comply with what we’ve laid out, and then if there is not compliance, we have to then talk about enforcement,” Falcicchio told NBC 4. “We don’t rush to enforcement in a way that will be disruptive to what happens in the classrooms or in the schools.”

Hundreds of teachers and firefighters in the city have already applied for medical or religious exemptions, but D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration has not ruled on those requests, according to multiple sources. D.C.’s health care workers, including firefighters and EMS employees, were required to get at least one dose of the vaccine by Sept. 30, or risk losing their jobs. But for the more than 14% of the 2,048 Fire and EMS employees that remain unvaccinated, no disciplinary action has been taken against them, according to NBC 4.