An Arizona School District Canceled All Its Classes After Teachers Staged A Sickout Over Coronavirus Fears

A school district in Arizona that was set to open for in-person teaching on Monday was forced to cancel all classes after teachers staged a "sickout" to protest unsafe working conditions during the coronavirus pandemic.

"We have received an overwhelming response from staff indicating that they do not feel safe returning to classrooms with students," Gregory Wyman, superintendent of the J.O. Combs Unified School District, said in a letter to parents on Friday. "In response, we have received a high volume of staff absences for Monday citing health and safety concerns," Wyman said.

The district's governing board had voted to resume in-person education on Monday despite failing to meet benchmarks recommended by the state, the New York Times reported. But the district announced Friday that all of Monday's classes, including virtual learning, would be cancelled after 109 staff members called in sick, the Arizona Republic reported.

"Due to these insufficient staffing levels, schools will not be able to reopen on Monday as planned," Wyman said in the letter.

Wyman also told parents that he was unsure when classes would resume because the district could not predict how long the absences would last.

"Please know that we are acutely aware of how polarizing this issue is, and how challenging these ongoing developments are for our entire community," Wyman's letter said.

The question of whether to reopen schools for in-person education has become a political flashpoint across the country as parents, teachers, and school districts attempt to balance the safety of reopening with other priorities.

Teachers in New York City have also threatened to protest with a sickout if the city decides to reopen for in-person classes.

In Arizona, officials have recommended that schools look at three benchmarks to assess how the virus is spreading in the community before deciding to reopen, including the number of new cases in the area, the percentage of people testing positive, and the number of hospitalizations. However, the state has not required schools to make decisions based on the benchmarks, the Arizona Republic reported.

The sickout protest in the J.O. Combs Unified School District comes after several teachers in the neighboring Queens Creek district resigned following a vote to resume in-person education there.

Sharon Tuttle, an organizer with Arizona Educators United, a grassroots group that has helped organize protests against reopening schools, told BuzzFeed News that teachers who resign could face fines or petitions to have their licenses revoked.

"We are just starting to see how this affects children, how contagious they are, and that they can get it," said Tuttle, adding that the group is advocating science-based metrics to determine when to reopen.

Tuttle said that comparisons of teachers to other professions was "ridiculous."

"This is a horrible situation for everybody," she said. "Everybody is uncomfortable, but it doesn't mean you make bad decisions."