Jay Schools closed for Nov. 19

One day, two closures.

Jay School Corporation announced this afternoon that schools will be closed Nov. 19 because of the vast number of teachers who have requested a personal day to support Indiana State Teachers Association’s Red for Ed initiative. It will be an e-learning day for local students.

The announcement came on the same day that Jay Schools closed and implemented its first e-learning day because of 3 inches of snow that fell Monday evening.

Superintendent Jeremy Gulley reported that 56 teachers, about a quarter of those employed by the cooperation, had a requested Nov. 19 as a personal day as of 3 p.m. today. One school had more than 75 percent of its teachers planned to be off work, with most of the others in the corporation between 18 and 35 percent.

Gulley said the corporation’s average need for substitute teachers is 12 per day. With more than four times that many already planned to be absent, he said he felt an e-learning day made more sense that trying to cover classrooms with substitutes and other corporation employees.

Red for Ed is an ISTA effort to have teachers take off on Nov. 19 — Organization Day for the state legislature — to demonstrate at the Indiana Statehouse for better pay and working conditions. About 100 of the state’s 287 school districts have announced cancelations or e-learning days for Nov. 19.

For additional details, see Wednesday’s edition of The Commercial Review.