CedarBridge Academy was forced to close its doors yesterday after the majority of its educators called in sick.

The Ministry of Education has said it is in the process of bolstering staff numbers.

Students were sent home after 59 of 77 educators and para-educators did not turn up to work. The ministry claimed that most of the absences were “uncertified”.

The Royal Gazette reported on industrial unrest at CedarBridge 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.

The ministry said two teachers had agreed to teach the required lessons while the recruitment of a third was in the process of being finalised.

A spokeswoman said yesterday: “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.”

In an interview this month, Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, said that there were plans to have a cosmetology teacher and an engineering teacher in place by this week.

Parent and teacher sources expressed concern for the academic progress of children at the school in the absence of the teachers while the sit-out was held to discuss the issue as well as the need to cover lessons.

The ministry spokeswoman added: “The CedarBridge Academy board chair and principal have been holding biweekly 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 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.”

Asked whether the recruitment challenges were being addressed, the ministry said later: “The recruitment process for our cosmetology and engineering programmes has progressed, and a qualified and licensed instructor will teach both engineering classes for the remainder of the semester.

“This teacher started on October 28.

“The school has secured an additional cosmetology teacher to join the full-time cosmetology teacher.

“This teacher has committed to teaching two days per week and started on October 28.

“A third teacher, certified City & Guilds cosmetology, is being finalised to instruct on the remaining days.“