Oakland public school officials say the district has no ability to hold classes remotely, despite a number of the 500 teachers who called in sick on Friday demanding, among other things, schools transition online two weeks due to the COVID-19 omicron variant.
But an Oakland Unified School District spokesperson said on Friday it had reached a "tentative agreement" with the Oakland Educators Association to extend COVID leave, after the union had asked for a retroactive extension to Nov. 7 and a forward one to June 30.
A sickout organizer, requesting anonymity, told KCBS Radio in an emailed statement on Friday afternoon that the COVID leave agreement showed "why the pressure of direct action is so necessary."
Twelve district schools didn’t hold classes on Friday after 503 teachers called in sick. John Sasaki, the district's director of communications, said there were twice as many absences as earlier in the week.
The Oakland Educators Association didn’t endorse the sickout, and Sasaki reiterated on Friday the district thought it was "illegal." Sasaki declined to answer whether legal action was forthcoming, adding later that the district will address it "down the road."
Sickout organizers demanded the district provide mandatory weekly PCR testing, as well as extended COVID leave and N95 masks for all students and staff. Additionally, the teachers called for the district to hold classes remotely for two weeks amid the omicron surge.
Sasaki said the district had "no plans" to make testing mandatory, but officials had delivered KN95 masks for staff at all schools on Thursday and Friday. The district is in the process of ordering enough masks for students, he said.
The sickout organizer expressed frustration to KCBS Radio that the district continues to "disregard our demand for" testing "out of hand," with teachers "waiting hours in line for PCR tests on campus" and "days for results." Organizers also want the district to order enough KN95 masks in order to "improve our mask mandate to require these kinds of masks."
Last week, California public health officials recommended residents "upgrade" their mask to an N95, KN95 or KF94 as part of the state’s updated quarantine and isolation guidelines. Officials have said cloth masks aren’t enough to limit omicron’s spread.
California, meanwhile, has “no vehicle” to provide funding for the district if it went remote for two weeks, Sasaki said. The sickout organizer said they hoped their action, and others across the state, "puts pressure on Sacramento to authorize a temporary return to remote learning." Gov. Gavin Newsom said two weeks ago he was determined to keep classrooms open.
Sasaki said the district expects all 80 district schools to be "business as usual" on Monday. The sickout organizer, when asked about that expectation, said organizers will regroup to discuss "future actions moving forward."
"They have no idea just how bad things are, and they want to keep pretending that they have everything under control," the organizer said of the district in an email, adding that classrooms missed "between 25% and 75%" of students this week.
More than 900 students and staff tested positive for COVID-19 after winter break, the district said. Sasaki said the district will have updated totals on Monday.
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