TNN reported this morning that “yet another school” was hit by “industrial action within the last two weeks”.
“Today teachers at Dalton E Tucker Primary School, staged what is believed to be a sick out leaving the school Principal to close the facility as there were not enough teachers to teach classes,” the report said.
“The Principal has called parents to collect their children.”
In a statement released this afternoon, Ms Richards said: “The Department of Education regrets to inform the community that Dalton E. Tucker Primary School was unable to open today due to an unexpected high number of staff absences. We recognize the inconvenience and concern this causes for our students, parents, and the wider community, and we are deeply sorry for the disruption.”
“We are unaware of any specific concerns of Dalton E. Tucker staff that would lead to any form of industrial action.
And we thank parents and guardians for their patience and understanding.
The community will be updated as we work through these challenges and will provide information about the reopening of Dalton E. Tucker as soon as it becomes available.
Context and Some Background
Schools have an allocated substitute or support teacher on site on a daily basis. Schools also have access to a pool of substitutes for planned absences and those substitutes are typically confirmed prior to the dates of the absences. Should a school require additional coverage, contingency plans go into effect. This involves having teachers who have additional planning time to cover classes.
On a related matter, the Government of Bermuda recently signed a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Bermuda Union of Teachers that includes an increase in personal days off. Typically, during the summer months there is a peak in the number of staff across the Bermuda Public School System taking their personal days off. This exacerbates challenges of securing substitutes when staff call in sick in the morning. All schools have been asked to have emergency plans to help mitigate this.
We are actively addressing these challenges and are committed to finding solutions that will prevent similar disruptions in the future. The Department will engage in discussions with the BUT to address concerns around coverage for absences and the utilization of substitute teachers in general.
Our priority remains the education and safety of our students, and we are striving to minimize any impact on their learning experience.
We thank our parents and guardians for their understanding and patience as we navigate these complex issues together.
Any content which is considered unsuitable, unlawful, or offensive, includes personal details, advertises or promotes products, services or websites, or repeats previous comments will be removed.
User comments posted on this website are solely the views and opinions of the comment writer and are not a representation of or reflection of the opinions of TNN or its staff.
TNN reserves the right to remove, edit or censor any comments.
TNN accepts no liability and will not be held accountable for the comments made by users.