Students at Standley Lake High School hold signs and chant “My school, my voice” alongside their campus in Westminster on Friday. They were rallying for their teachers and for a high-quality education. (Kathryn Scott Osler, The Denver Post)
In a , Conifer High School teachers defended their sick out Friday, saying they gave administrators ample notice of their plans and that substitutes should have been arranged to replace them.
School administration officials, meanwhile, disagree with that characterization.
Two after 50 educators either called in sick or claimed personal, prompting the district to cancel classes. The sick out was part of ongoing tensions between educators and the school district’s leadership.
“Friday, Sept. 19, 2014 was an important day for educators in Jefferson County,” the letter says. “Throughout the entire district, individuals chose to take collective action to raise community awareness of the Jefferson County Board of Education’s new unilateral decision making model. Since the seating of new board majority, educators, administrators, parents and students throughout the District have repeatedly expressed concerns about the negative implications of a non-inclusive approach to decision making.”
Standley Lake High School was also closed Friday.
The teachers said their plans were made in consultation with district leadership and that “we were all given the impression that the schools would remain open, and even worked together to provide ample time to develop detailed substitute lesson plans. It wasn’t until the following day that any participating teacher was apprised of the board’s decision to abandon all efforts to find substitute coverage.”
Terry Elliot, chief school effectiveness officer for the district, said that characterization is unfair.
“As we communicated, we knew there were rumors of a large number being out that day,” he said. “We have enough problems on any day to have enough teachers for our buildings. I don’t know that I agree we should be able to cover all those spots.”
Further, the board does not decide to find substitute coverage as that is the administrations role, the district said.
“I don’t think typically we would call teachers and tell them we’ve found a substitute for their position,” said Lynn Setzer, administration spokeswoman. “It would be out of the realm of our procedures to do something like that.”
Read the full letter here.
The letter was posted on the “Support Jeffco Kids” Facebook page.
Tumult in the district from Evergreen High School walked out of class and car pooled to the county’s school administration building to protest against what they see as a proposed censorship policy.
It’s rumored that student protests from JeffCo high schools could continue throughout the week.
Tensions between teachers and district leadership have been brewing since last year over several contentious issues, .
