A school district outside Phoenix was forced to cancel its classroom on Monday after teachers took a “sick out” plan and promised not to act to lead instruction in person amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The JO Combs Unified School District said in a letter to families online published Friday that schools could not reopen Monday for instruction as planned due to “insufficient staffing levels.” Virtual learning will also cancel Monday.
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“In response to this week’s board decision to resume instruction on Monday, we have received an overwhelming response from staff indicating that they do not feel safe returning to classrooms with students,” Superintendent wrote Dr. Gregory A. Wyman. “In response, we received a full volume of staff redundancies for Monday with indications of health and safety concerns.”
The school district could not confirm if anticipation of staff would continue last Monday and when instruction in person could resume. An update would be delivered Monday at 5 p.m. All elementary schools in the neighborhood would still offer morning and afternoon service for students available between 6:30 a.m. and 8 p.m.
“Please be aware that we are acutely aware of how polarizing this problem is, and how challenging these ongoing developments are for our entire community,” Wyman wrote. “We will continue to work closely with our staff and our families to develop solutions that provide a safe and healthy return to school.”
The JO Combs Unified School District is based in Pinal County, which meets two of the three benchmarks set by the Arizona Department of Health Services to recommend an initial school opening.
As of Thursday, the province has witnessed cases over a two-week decline or a two-week change of case of less than 100 cases per 100,000 population, and hospital visits due to COVID-like diseases have remained below 10% in the region across the region. the past two weeks. However, it did not meet the benchmark for an initial opening that recommends two weeks of percent positivity less than 7% in the province.
Despite failing to comply with state health guidelines, JO Combs Unified School District, as well as the Phoenix area Queen Creek Unified School District, both voted last week to resume instruction in person, AZ Family reported. Queen Creek Teachers Association president Jacob Frantz said dozens of teachers were fired when students prepared to return to class in that district on Monday.
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“It was a very heartbreaking decision. We spend years of our lives devoting ourselves to these students and building relationships with our colleagues,” he said.
