Educators at Lake Braddock Secondary School protested mandatory weapons detection duty with a “walk in” this morning (Nov. 5), as the local teachers’ unions await the Fairfax County School Board’s decision on a formal grievance filed against the policy.
Around 18 members wearing their union t-shirts met at 7:20 a.m., chanted “let us teach,” then quietly walked into the Burke school at the start of their contract hour, 7:30 a.m., in protest of the duty implemented at the school last year.
The school board is expected to make a decision on Nov. 12 on the grievance filed by the Fairfax Education Unions (FEU), a partnership between the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers (FCFT) and Fairfax Education Association (FEA).
“At Lake Braddock, the situation hasn’t changed,” Bill McCabe, an English teacher at the school and FCFT union steward, told FFXnow. “We’re still being forced by the administration to do weapons duty throughout the day. We decided that this is one way we could peacefully show that we are united as a faculty against this policy.”
FCPS assigns school-based staff and security personnel to manage the OpenGate weapons detection systems that were permanently installed in every middle and high school in the district in the fall of 2025.
However, the union argues that staffing isn’t consistent across FCPS schools: at some, educators voluntarily handle weapons detection duty, while others receive a stipend for taking it on.
At Lake Braddock, educators are required to lend a hand, with staffing rotating bell to bell.
The union’s position is that weapons detection should be staffed by trained personnel. McCabe says educators are “feeling a big squeeze,” as handling the weapons duty on top of other responsibilities, such as monitoring the hallways and bathrooms, is “taking away from our actual jobs.”
When FFXnow inquired about the walk-in, a spokesperson for FCPS responded that “until the grievance process is completed, it would not be appropriate for FCPS to comment.”
A public hearing on the grievance was held on Sept. 23. An arbitrator then made a recommendation to the school board, which has the final say in the matter.
“We are keeping the pressure up,” said Namita Waghray, an FEU representative. “Our members are continuing to let the school board know that we don’t support this policy.”
The union is continuing to circulate a petition throughout the community; as of press time, it has gathered about 3,300 signatures. While union members have been speaking out about their concerns at board meetings throughout the past year, they hope to make their most visible impression yet before the school board on Nov. 12.
“Our hope is to get more teachers there than ever before,” McCabe said.
The union wants school board members to know, he added, that their position “is one they’re going to have to run on” ahead of elections next November.
“There are thousands of community members, thousands of voters, who are paying attention to this,” McCabe said. “When people find out about this, they’re shocked.”
