This coming Wednesday, March 8, is International Women’s Day, and has also been deemed, “A Day Without a Woman.”
Women across the nation, as well as men, will be participating in a one-day demonstration to recognize the value of women. As part of this demonstration, many will be staying home from work.
In recent weeks, I started hearing from staff members who indicated they will not be coming to work on Wednesday, March 8. As we get closer to that date, I have heard from more and more staff that they will also be absent. I asked our school principals and central office department heads to survey staff to find out how many absences would occur.
The results came back, and the number was significant. In fact, it is my determination that we will not have enough staff to safely run our school district.
To that end, I am declaring Wednesday, March 8 as an optional teacher workday. There will be no school for students, and no on-site child care. Students will not be required to make up this day as the system is on schedule to meet the required number of instructional hours for the school year.
All athletic events will occur as scheduled unless otherwise notified by the coach.
Additionally, a previously scheduled delayed opening for the purpose of professional development planned for Thursday, March 9 will be canceled. Thursday will instead be a full day of school.
While Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools values and supports its female employees, the decision to close schools is not a political statement. It is entirely about the safety of students and the district’s inability to operate with a high number of staff absences.
Thank you for understanding.
