169 CVUSD teachers call out sick from school
UPDATE: 6:32 p.m.
Clara Garcia described the start of her new school year at Coachella Valley High School as “stressful.”
That’s because the Junior said Wednesday morning started off unlike any other morning, with dozens of students brought to the school gym, after many teachers called in sick.
“I was just shocked,” Garcia said. “I was looking at everything. All of the kids [were] confused too, calling all of their parents saying, ‘Come pick me up. I’m not going to be waiting here.”
Meanwhile at Cahuilla Desert Academy, 8th grader Carlos Garcia was one of several students picked up from the school.
Coachella Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) officials said out of seven schools, 169 out of 307 teachers called in sick.
“It was really full, and none of us could move inside the office,” Garcia said. “So basically, when I saw the line, I was like, ‘Wow, that’s a lot of parents picking up their kids.”
Roughly one-third of the teachers that called in absent Wednesday were teachers here at Coachella Valley High School.
While some students and parents said they stood with the teachers, others said they hope the teachers and district will come up with a solution soon.
“I just want this to end already to the point where I can just get my education, and graduate and do whatever I want to do,” Clara Garcia said.
In a statement, CVUSD Superintendent Dr. Darryl Adams acknowledged this was not an anomaly.
He also said a phone call went out Tuesday night about a special board meeting scheduled at Coachella Valley High School Thursday.
To read the full statement from Dr. Adams, read the earlier version of the article.
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ORIGINAL STORY: 8:30 a.m.
Students were sent to the gymnasium at Coachella Valley High School on Wednesday morning following a large number of sick calls from teachers at the school.
We’ve also confirmed that parents were lining up at Cahuilla Desert Academy to pick up their children from school early.
The Coachella Valley Unified School District has confirmed the following teacher absences:
Coachella Valley High School = 102 total teachers, 61 absences
La Familia High School = 10 teachers, 8 absences
Cahuilla Desert Academy = 45 teachers, 34 absences
Valle del Sol Elementary = 40 teachers, 21 absences
Oasis Elementary = 33 teachers, 13 absences
Mecca Elementary = 40 teachers, 16 absences
John Kelley Elementary = 37 teachers, 16 absences
CVUSD officials said substitutes and extra staff, including security, was brought in to assist the schools for the day. They said the district is always prepared to bring in substitutes, but due to the high number of absences Wednesday, not all classes were covered.
Students gathered in the gym at Coachella Valley High School with administrators and security and left for every period in which their classes were covered, according to CVUSD’s news release.
Parents who contacted KESQ News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 News said students were sent to the gym because there were not enough teachers to staff classrooms.
A photo from a teacher at the school showed a number of students sitting on bleachers in the school’s gymnasium.
This was just a day after Tuesday protests saw both students and teachers walking out of class at the same school for a protest march to the Coachella Unified School District Headquarters.
Teachers are at odds with the district over a new labor contract.
A special school board meeting was planned for Thursday at Coachella Valley High School to talk about continued negotiations.
Stay with KESQ News Channel 3 / CBS Local 2 News for updates to this developing news.
