Teachers’ sickout protesting in-person learning forces West Ada to cancel school Monday

This story was originally published on Oct. 16, 2020, at IdahoEdNews.org.

The West Ada School District on Friday canceled Monday’s school day because of a massive sick day organized by the teachers union in protest of the district continuing to hold in-person classes under the highest-risk COVID-19 category.

And the situation might get worse before it gets better. The West Ada Education Association urged its members to put in for an additional sick day on Tuesday.

District officials announced the closure in an email sent to parents Friday afternoon. A district spokeswoman shared the email with Idaho Education News shortly after sending it to parents.

“Principals, administration, teachers and staff worked hard to cover the absences, but unfortunately, we cannot,” West Ada officials wrote in the email. “With safety in mind, and due to supervision concerns, we are regretfully unable to hold school Monday. We will reassess the situation on Monday and give parents, guardians and staff an update.”

As of late Friday afternoon, the district said 652 of 2,145 classroom teachers — about 30 percent — called in sick for Monday. The district was unable to fill about 500 of those absences.

Less than two hours after the district announced Monday’s closure, leaders of the teachers union asked members to put in for another sick day.

“We drew the line. If we don’t hold the line, we lose the line,” West Ada Education Association President Eric Thies said during a Friday afternoon virtual meeting with teachers that an Idaho Education News reporter attended.

Thies said he was sorry to see school get canceled, but he felt teachers had to send a message that they don’t feel safe with in-person classes while the district is in the “red” coronavirus category. Teachers first met on a Zoom call Wednesday night and planned the action, in case the board voted Thursday to continue with in-school learning — which it did.

“I hope that there is a solution, I hope there is something we can do, but I don’t know if I see one at this moment,” Thies said.

West Ada is the state’s largest district based on enrollment, serving almost 40,000 students.

Central District Health moved all of Ada County’s schools into the “red” category earlier in the week, but did indicate that districts’ in-person classes could continue. That was a reversal from previous advice that recommended only remote learning under “red” to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The Boise School District, Idaho’s second largest, plans to bring middle and high school students back to schools Monday.

This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 4:56 PM.