The three unions that represent educators in Fairfax County — Fairfax Education Association, Fairfax County Federation of Teachers and Association of Fairfax Professional Educators — say students, teachers, families and the community would be safer with virtual learning until a vaccine or effective treatment against COVID-19 is readily available.
“We believe our community as a whole should not return to in-person learning until a vaccine or treatment is widely available for COVID-19. All staff should be provided the ability to continue virtual instruction as long as there is community spread of this virus,” said Kimberly Adams, President of the Fairfax Education Association. “We will continue to make every possible effort to assist FCPS in developing a plan that keeps health and safety first.”
The unions issued a joint statement encouraging their members, many of whom are teachers, to tell FCPS leaders that they want to teach virtually.
"Given overwhelming educator concern with the ability of FCPS to keep employees and students safe, Association of Fairfax Professional Educators, Fairfax County Federation of Teachers and Fairfax Education Association encourage our respective union members to clearly state their preference for continued virtual learning until such time as adequate information is made available for employees and families to make informed decisions about returning to face-to-face instruction," according to the statement.
Fairfax County Public Schools released a plan to allow parents to choose whether their children attended school in-person a few days each week or continue with 100 percent virtual learning. Safety measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus and its illness, COVID-19, include masks, physical distancing and increased cleaning, among other adjustments to the daily school routine.
Fairfax County Public Schools officials are still working out details around each plan, including how learning would happen, which days students would attend school and more.
Currently, FCPS is collecting information from teachers and education specialists about whether the are interested in teaching in person or virtually. Teachers may be reassigned depending on need and on how teacher preferences match up with the preferences of families.
