NAMPA, Idaho — A high number of absences among staff members in Idaho schools has forced several districts around the Gem State to close temporarily, including the Nampa School District.
The Nampa School District announced Tuesday five of their schools will be closed through the end of the week because of "extremely high levels of illness," listed below:
- New Horizons Dual Language School
- Gateways
- Nampa Early Childhood Learning Center
- East Valley Middle School
- Centennial Elementary School
The district reported 170 staff members out and 72 classrooms were unfilled on Tuesday, the highest illness rate they have seen so far this year.
"The school setting is just a direct reflection of what's happening in the community," Elke Shaw-Tulloch, the administrator of public health for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare said. "As cases are increasing across communities, more and more kids and more and more staff are getting ill and therefore it's having an impact on the school setting."
The Nampa School District had been dealing with a high number of staff absences for months, which they have been able to deal with by having staff fill in for other classrooms or other roles around the district.
"We just don't have enough substitutes to come in," Kathleen Tuck, the director of communications for Nampa School District said. "We don't have enough nutrition services staff, the bussing company is dealing with [low staff numbers]. Everybody has been pitching in."
Tuck said she helped with lunch duty for a few hours at one of the district's schools on Tuesday.
"It is difficult. It can be OK occasionally but if it happens a lot then it's difficult to get the work done that you need to get done," Tuck said. "I know it's really hard for our teachers because a lot of them are giving up their prep time to be able to go in and cover other classrooms."
Nampa School District hopes with this three-day temporary closure it will give staff time to get healthy again and deploy substitutes to other schools in the district.
"We don't have enough staff to cover our classrooms and some of our other positions," Tuck said. "We don't feel, for one, the children are getting the education they deserve but also it becomes not a safe environment. That's a really high priority for the Nampa School District."
However, Nampa School District parent Bessie Yeley is not happy with this temporary school closure and believes if more COVID-19 safety policies were in place, this could have been prevented. Yeley is concerned if this does not happen, more schools in this district will close.
"I'm asking for COVID-19 mitigation," Yeley said. "I want to remove the risk of school closures and I want to remove the risk of my son contracting COVID=19 because he is in an at-risk population."
Her oldest son has autism, which Yeley said made remote learning very difficult in the early months of the pandemic.
"He was not able to do the at-home packets," Yeley said. "I found myself just found myself struggling to watch my son struggle and I did not know what to do about it."
Yeley told KTVB she's had numerous conversations with the Nampa School District administration about remote learning and its effects on disabled students, but each time she felt like she was not heard.
"When he was removed from the instruction he was removed from a whole structure which disabled children thrive on," Yeley said. "There are so many supports put in place for children with autism specifically."
While Yeley feels her son's teachers are trying their best, she feels the district needs to do more when it comes to slowing the spread of COVID-19 and keeping students in schools.
"When children with disabilities, who are at greater risk are not able to access the learning that they're entitled to under the law, in a safe environment that is a form of discrimination," Yeley said.
Tuck told KTVB they are aware there are many students within the district who have specific needs and they strive to meet those needs, but sometimes they are not able to do that. Tuck added in those instances it may be best to reach out to their particular teacher or school administration to discuss their individual situation and what is being done to address that.
"This is why we don't want to close schools," Tuck said.
The five schools that are closed for the rest of the week will have some instruction or learning, but it will not be virtual, according to Tuck. She added schools and teachers will be in touch with students on how they plan on handling learning.
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