Sickout protest cancels reopening of classes

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• A school district in Arizona canceled its plans to reopen on Monday “due to insufficient staffing levels.”
• The J.O. Combs Unified School District had voted to resume in-person classes but after the vote, 109 out of 250 teachers had called in sick.
• Arizona became one of the epicenters of the coronavirus outbreak in the US, with the fifth-highest number of hospitalizations in the country, according to the Johns Hopkins tally.

An Arizona school district had to cancel reopening for Monday, August 17, after teachers staged a “sickout” to protest in-person classes during the coronavirus pandemic.

On Friday, Gregory Wyman, superintendent of the J.O. Combs Unified School District, wrote a letter to families, indicating that the district had received “an overwhelming response from staff indicating that they do not feel safe returning to classrooms with students” as well as “a high volume of staff absences for Monday citing health and safety concerns.” 

“Due to these insufficient staffing levels, schools will not be able to re-open on Monday as planned. This means that all classes, including virtual learning, will be canceled. At this time, we do not know the duration of these staff absences, and cannot yet confirm when in-person instruction may resume,” Wyman wrote.

Teachers have called out sick to protest the district’s vote to hold in-person classes amid the coronavirus crisis. 

Out of 250 teachers employed in the district, 109 certified staff had applied to be absent on Monday, the Republic reported, citing a district spokeswoman.

The country is currently debating over if and how to reopen schools this fall in light of health concerns that students can contract the coronavirus and then bring it home with them to their families.

Last Monday hundreds of parents and students in Arizona protested for the return of in-person instruction. However, more and more teachers and parents across the US have warned against hasty returns that don’t adequately implement proper protections against COVID-19.

Kelley Fisher, a Phoenix kindergarten teacher who has led protests, told Reuters: “It was great to see J.O. Combs school district came together and used their collective power. I’d love to see a nationwide sick out.”

Source: Insider