For the second day in a row, Oakland teachers are planning a "sick out" to protest the lack of COVID-19 safety measures, and now students are joining them.
All students who arrived at Skyline High School in East Oakland Thursday morning have been asked to report to the cafeteria as there are not enough students to fill many classrooms.
School officials told parents not to send their children to class Thursday as 80 percent of staff may not be on campus due to the unsanctioned sickout.
Teachers are continuing to demand that the district switch to distanced learning during the omicron surge, but Oakland Unified spokesperson John Sasaki said schools are safe.
“We have excellent ventilation, air purification, everybody's wearing masks and a lot of people, if not most people, are vaccinated," he said. "It's very safe for them to be there, a lot safer than it is in many other parts of our community and we want to keep our kids in schools."
Students have threatened to join the sickout unless they are provided with KN95 masks, as per a list of demands. Some local restaurants are helping out by sending thousands of KN95s to high schools.
Eugene Lee, owner of Noodle Belly and Corner Kitchen, told KCBS Radio they are donating 10,000 KN95s. "Hundreds of thousands of masks are going to arrive in the next few weeks. I have about 10,000 I could donate and I did my part," he said.
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