A Northern Virginia public school district canceled classes March 8 after more than 300 faculty members in the county requested leave, presumably in part because of the “A Day Without A Woman” protest.
“Given the unusually high number of requests, this may be attributed to the observance of International Women’s Day,” said Alvin L. Crawley, superintendent of Alexandria City Public Schools, according to a statement obtained by CNN. “This day has also been deemed A Day Without Women. Consequently, ACPS has decided to close schools for students for the day.”
“The decision is based solely on our ability to provide sufficient staff to cover all our classrooms, and the impact of high staff absenteeism on student safety and delivery of instruction. It is not based on a political stance or position,” said Crawley.
“We’re actually probably causing a lot of working women to scramble for child care and some of them are minimum-wage workers,” said one teacher to The Washington Post.
An infographic from “A Day Without A Woman” urges women not to spend money or do paid or unpaid labor and to wear red to show solidarity.
Along with Alexandria City, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City schools are also canceling classes Wednesday, citing a similar workforce deficiency.
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