(Reuters) – An Arizona district that ignored state safety guidelines and voted to teach in person on August 17th. Had to cancel classes after staff said it was unsafe to come back and call in sick.
JO Combs Unified School District of Greater Phoenix canceled all instructions for Monday due to “insufficient staffing”, days after the board ignored state benchmarks about when students can safely return to classes during the pandemic.
The ‘sick out’ underscores the difficulty of returning to personal learning in the United States after schools in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama closed this week because students and staff became infected with COVID-19 or forced to isolate themselves from exposure.
“We have received an overwhelming response from staff indicating that they do not feel safe going back to classrooms with students,” said JO Combs District Superintendent Gregory Wyman in a statement, adding that he did not know when personal learning would resume. to go.
Arizona becomes a battleground in the debate over reopening schools, hundreds of parents and students demonstrated Monday in Phoenix for a return to classes in person, after teachers staged protests calling for delays until October.
“It was great to see JO Combs school district come together and use their collective strength,” said Kelley Fisher, a Phoenix kindergarten teacher who was led to protest by school staff. “I would like to see a national disease.”
Christina DeRouchey was among Phoenix’s parents at Monday’s rally and led demonstrations in her Deer Valley Unified School District asking to begin personal learning on Aug. 17.
When the neighborhood delayed the start until mid-October, they moved their first-grade son to a card school, where he will begin personal lessons Monday.
“We just want the choice that is physically, mentally and most importantly emotional for our children,” DeRouchey said.
Report by Andrew Hay; Edited by Shri Navaratnam
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