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SCOTTSDALE, AZ – The Scottsdale Unified School District announced Sunday that Arcadia High School, Chaparral High School, Desert Mountain High School, Cocopah Middle School and Mountainside Middle School will close on Monday, November 30, due to a lack of staff.
“Unfortunately, we learned over the weekend that we do not have a sufficient number of teachers or substitutes to cover all of the teachers’ absences tomorrow,” reads a letter that was sent to families in the district Sunday evening.
The latest Maricopa County Public Health Department School Scorecard update shows the district in the substantial spread category, with 241 cases per 100,000 population and a positivity rate of 9.98%. The district’s COVID-19 case dashboard shows a total of 36 active confirmed cases across the district as of November 24.
The district pleaded with community members to follow mitigation measures and limit gatherings so schools can stay open, attributing much of the spread to activities taking place off campus.
Last month, the Chaparral High School COVID-19 outbreak led the district to order more than 200 families to quarantine.
At the last Governing Board meeting on November 23, Superintendent Dr Scott Menzel said the ability to properly staff classrooms was becoming increasingly difficult, especially in high schools.
“Our biggest challenge so far this year has been Chaparral,” said Dr. Menzel. “We had counselors, social workers, vice-principals and even the principal filling the classrooms.
Dr. Menzel discussed what is called the “underfill rate,” which is an indicator of the number of requests for substitutes that are actually met by professional substitutes. The district’s current rate is around 71%. Last year it was closer to 90%.
“I’ve heard stories where teachers can be in neighboring rooms, and they cover two classrooms, and it’s becoming worrying for me because we need a submarine in each class,” said Dr. Menzel. “It becomes an indicator that we are overwhelmed by our abilities.”
As the Thanksgiving holiday approached, the board discussed the possibility of returning some school sites to distance learning if there were not enough staff to adequately cover the classrooms.
“I’m concerned that after the break we only find out in two of our buildings, we might be in a position where we might have to close a few buildings and go back to virtual because of it,” Dr Menzel said.
The District Administrative Council is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, December 1 at 5:00 p.m.
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