A total of 269 teachers were absent from schools today in the Boulder Valley School District, apparently protesting the collapse of talks over the teaching contract for next year.
It was the third straight day of sudden teacher absences in the district northwest of Denver. On Monday, 342 teachers called in sick. On Friday, 84 teachers at Broomfield High failed to show up.
Teachers outside of Douglass Elementary School picketed as kids were being dropped off this morning.
The schools where the absences occurred today were Monarch and Aspen Creek K-8s; Broomfield Heights and Angevine middle schools; and Birch, Emerald, Kohl and Whittier International elementaries.
The district has offered its 2,000 teachers a 1 percent stipend raise over the 2009-10 school year. But the raise would not be applied to their base pay, meaning it would not be added into teachers’ permanent pay, according to Briggs Gamblin, district spokesman.
Teachers are asking for a 3 percent cost of living increase built into the permanent base-pay structure.
