WARWICK, R.I. (AP) — Another school in Warwick has canceled classes after a large number of teachers called in sick amid ongoing contract negotiations.
Classes at Veterans Junior High School were canceled Wednesday. On Friday, Pilgrim High School was closed.
School officials are again blaming a “sick-out” by teachers. Darlene Netcoh, president of the Warwick Teacher’s Union, tells WPRO’s Gene Valicenti that “there’s no official union sick-out.”
The cancellation comes after the union on Tuesday announced a unanimous vote of “no confidence” with Superintendent Philip Thornton and School Committee Chairwoman Bethany Furtado.
Netcoh says they hope the vote will encourage administrators to act in the best interest of students and return Warwick to its former higher level of excellence.
Thornton told Valicenti any sick-out hurts kids and does nothing to settle the contract dispute.
Listen to podcasts with Netcoh, Thornton, and Warwick Mayor Scot Avadesian below:
