‘It was a sick-out’: Urbana Middle School teachers protest after student hurt in hallway
URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — Urbana Middle School students opened up their laptops and got to work from home on Monday. But, it wasn’t COVID or weather keeping them out of their classrooms, it was a lack of teachers.
WCIA reached out to teachers and the district. After asking two teachers questions, WCIA learned the switch to E-Learning was because of a teacher protest. Both educators our team spoke with wanted to remain anonymous but said more than 50 teachers called out sick.
They said the decision was made after a situation on Monday, March 25. One teacher said a student in a wheelchair was being taken to the bus to go home when two students ran into him. The teacher said it was an accident.
Another teacher said the student wasn’t knocked out of his chair but was quickly jolted. Now, he is in the hospital with a serious neck injury. The teacher added that this is the second time the student has been hurt in the halls of Urbana Middle School.
The teachers WCIA talked to said the staff wasn’t happy with how administrators handled the situation.
“Teachers want consistency and accountability regarding consequences for students breaking the rules from administration,” one educator said.
They added that kids running or skipping in hallways, and disrespecting students and staff members is an issue across all grade levels.
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The teachers WCIA spoke with said nearly all requests off were placed on Friday, March 29th. They wanted to give administrators enough time to make the switch to E-Learning, but the email making the call wasn’t sent out until Sunday night.
WCIA reached out to the Urbana School District for comment and asked several questions. Some of those were: “Can the district provide any comment on the incident? Or confirm any additional details?” “Can you give the exact number of teachers who called out?” “Is there a plan in place if this happens again?”
None of those questions were answered. Instead, this was the response back.
“The decision to move to E-Learning at Urbana Middle School was made yesterday due to a significant number of staff absences and not enough substitutes or administrators district-wide to cover all classes and routines safely. We have no further information to share at this time.”
Katherine Tellez, Communications Director
There is a donation page set up for the student. The Urbana Superintendent is one of the many who have donated.
While talking to teachers, one also noted tomorrow’s Board of Education meeting. That teacher is expecting it to be standing room only. They’re set to approve many new hires and present final re-districting plans. For a full breakdown of the agenda, follow this link.
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