A credentialed fourth-grade teacher in a Fairfax County school serving McLean and Great Falls families has been working without benefits or a permanent contract, classified instead as a long-term substitute.

Parent Ashley Martin raised the alarm after learning her son's teacher, hired over the summer, earns an hourly rate with no health insurance despite performing the same duties as a full-time employee, as first reported by WTOP.

School Board Member Melanie Meren, who represents the Hunter Mill District, called the practice a "crisis." In a newsletter to families, Meren wrote that the district's process limits vacant teaching positions to existing Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) employees and that continuing the approach six weeks into the school year was unacceptable. She plans to introduce a proposal directing Superintendent Michelle Reid to offer permanent positions to teachers who applied, started working in classrooms, but still lack full-time contracts.

Reid rejected the "hiring freeze" label. She described the situation as a staffing "math problem" tied to declining enrollment across the region.

"We had in some cases, if you will, a holding pattern until we can be sure that we don't have a more experienced staff member that we need to retain that could be placed in that classroom," Reid told WTOP on Oct. 3.

Reid said the rebalancing happens early each school year and that conversations about placing senior staff had already taken place. Where the district lacks qualified internal candidates, external hires are moving forward, she said.

The staffing dispute lands amid growing fiscal pressure on FCPS. Chief Financial Officer Leigh Burden warned the school board's budget committee on Sept. 8 that fiscal year 2028 spending commitments are outpacing anticipated revenue, FFXnow reported. The district averaged roughly $135 million in reduced or avoided costs over fiscal years 2026 and 2027.

Martin said her son's teacher is expected to receive a full-time contract soon. She told WTOP she worries other students remain in the same situation across the district.

Meren's proposal, if introduced, would be the first formal board action on the practice.