Benjamin School closes for lack of teachers

By David W. McCracken, St. Johns Source, 8 November 2000

Students at Guy Benjamin Elementary School were sent home Monday morning after the teachers who showed up "slowly but surely left, one after the other," according to Education Department spokeswoman June Archibald.

Archibald said the school closed at 11:30 a.m. Monday, by which time the school's principal had just three staff members to supervise more than 100 students, Archibald said. "So the students were fed lunch, buses were called and they were dispatched back home," she said. "Their parents were notified via the radio media."

American Federation of Teachers members were ordered back to the classroom on Friday by Territorial Court Judge Brenda Hollar, ending a three-week strike. But reports on Monday suggested that many teachers were defying the court order, either by not showing up or by devoting class time to discussing the strike.

No special contingency plans were announced for Wednesday at the Guy Benjamin school. Tuesday, election day, is a public holiday and school is not in session.