CedarBridge Academy has been forced to close its doors today after the majority of its educators and paraeducators called in sick.

The Ministry of Education said that most of the 59 absences were “uncertified”.

A spokeswoman said: “Today, the Ministry of Education has been forced to announce the closure of CedarBridge Academy due to an unusually high number of teacher and paraeducator absences.

“As of 6.23am, 59 of CedarBridge’s 77 staff members had reported absent.

“The majority of these are uncertified sick leave absences, alongside two approved absences and one absence for a staff member attending to a sick child.

“While students have been provided assignments and can access additional materials on Google Classroom, the school’s administration is conducting checks to ensure assignments are posted and accessible to minimise any disruption to student learning during this time.”

The Royal Gazette reported on industrial unrest at CedarBridge earlier this month when staff staged a sit out to discuss recruitment challenges at the school, which included cover by regular teachers for signature learning teachers who had not yet been hired.

In an interview later, Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, said that plans were in place to have a Cosmetology teacher and an Engineering teacher in place by this week.

The ministry spokeswoman added: “The CedarBridge Academy board chair and principal have been holding bi-weekly meetings with representatives from the Bermuda Union of Teachers to address the CedarBridge Academy educators’ concerns and implement agreed-upon solutions.

“The next meeting was scheduled for today at 4pm, as confirmed by CedarBridge principal [Kenneth] Caesar with BUT CedarBridge Academy Representative Mr John Virgil.

“We are unaware of any unresolved issues that would have prompted today’s action, and no concerns have been raised with the principal regarding tonight’s scheduled Back to School night for parents.

“We have reached out to the union executive for clarification.

“In line with the provisions of our collective bargaining agreement, we will be enforcing the policies related to uncertified sick leave and are committed to continuing open communication to address any further concerns raised by the union.

“The ministry remains focused on providing a supportive and effective working environment for our educators and maintaining consistent, high-quality education for our students.”