FCPS to offer in-school Covid testing and vaccinations

Woodson High School students, like all students in Fairfax County, spend the day wearing masks. [FCPS]

Fairfax County Public Schools plans to roll out a major Covid testing program next month and will begin offering in-school vaccinations after winter break. 

Superintendent Scott Brabrand outlined those plans at a school board work session on Nov. 19.

FCPS is planning to contract with a third-party provider to screen students and staff for Covid. Parental consent will be required.

A random sample of students who are not fully vaccinated will be identified each week for the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test to determine if they are infected with Covid. Students will be tested at school during the school day. 

The sample size would be at least 10 percent of students who are not fully vaccinated at each school. FCPS estimates approximately 11,000-12,000 students would be tested each week. 

All student athletes ages 12-15 who are not fully vaccinated and athletes age 16 and older who have medical or religious exemptions will be given the rapid antigen Covid test at least once a week. These tests would be done at the high school after hours to the maximum extent possible. 

Approximately 2,000 athletes would be tested each week. Anyone with a positive test result would be given a PCR test. 

FCPS expects to start Covid testing at elementary schools the week of Nov. 8. Testing at middle schools, high schools, and centers would begin the week of Nov. 15. Testing for student athletes would start the week of Nov. 1.

All FCPS staff who have not provided documentation of being fully vaccinated would be given the rapid antigen test weekly, beginning Nov. 1 for contracted employees and Nov. 15 for hourly employees. 

Testing for staff would occur at nine designated sites across the county – including Holmes Middle School and the Gatehouse Center – with variable hours between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. 

About 3,000 staff would be tested weekly. According to FCPS, 97 percent of contract staff have been vaccinated.

Related story: Virtual learning available for quarantined students

A survey of parents conducted by FCPS found 76 percent of respondents plan to vaccinate their child, 80 percent intend to vaccinate their child immediately, 10 percent do not plan to vaccinate their child, and 12 percent are undecided.

Nearly half (49 percent) said they would not consider having their child vaccinated during the school day without a parent or guardian present, and 35 percent would have their child vaccinated without a parent or guardian present. 

Parents’ top preference for who should vaccinate their child is the family’s doctor. The lowest preference is a school-based clinic without parents or guardians. 

During the period Sept. 16-Oct. 14, there were 717 positive Covid cases in Fairfax County Public Schools, including 567 students, 147 staff, and three visitors.

That’s a small percentage of the FCPS population, which consists of 178,339 students attending school in person and 27,772 staff members.

During that period, 2,625 students were in quarantine (because they had close contact with a positive Covid case), 1,953 students were on “pause” (potential close contact), and 147 were in isolation (tested positive for Covid). The categories are not mutually exclusive.