Fountain Valley : District May Penalize Teachers in ‘Sick-Out’

The attorney for the city’s school district is looking into possible penalties against teachers who took part in a “sick-out” protest Friday, a district spokesman said over the weekend.

Cheryl Norton, director of communications for the school district, said that about 45 teachers staged a sick-out protest on Friday. Teachers have said they are unhappy with a new contract that was implemented last month against their wishes.

The contract, approved by the school board on April 22, provides pay raises over the next three years that are less than the teachers’ union demanded.

Norton said that the school district deplored the teachers’ sick-out because schoolchildren were the ones who suffered. “It was a pointless action,” said Norton. “That protest is not going to change a thing.”

Representatives of the teachers’ union, the Fountain Valley Education Assn., could not be reached for comment on Saturday. In previous statements, however, the union has said that the school board has violated collective bargaining by unilaterally imposing a contract on the teachers.