SAN TAN VALLEY — A Pinal County school district, J. O. Combs Unified, in San Tan Valley has canceled classes for Monday due to “a high volume of staff absences.” Although San Tan Valley, and Pinal County, have had relatively low COVID-19 case counts, teachers and office staff refused to return to the classrooms.
“In response to this week’s Governing Board decision to resume in-person instruction on Monday, we have received an overwhelming response from staff indicating that they do not feel safe returning to classrooms with students, the school district announced in a letter to parents. “In response, we have received a high volume of staff absences for Monday citing health and safety concerns.”
The district went so far in response to staff that it cancelled all classes, either in-person or online for the first day back to school.
The district says they do not know the duration of the staff absences and are unable to confirm when in-person or online learning will resume.