Public school officials in Richmond, Va., and St. Louis, Mo., are being blasted online for arbitrarily planning to shut their doors next month to provide “mental health days” off for teachers and staff, decisions that will likely leave working parents scrambling to figure out to accommodate the closures.

The decisions were blasted online by a Twitter account known as NYC Angry Mom and noted as well by top podcaster Megyn Kelly, a former Fox News host.

“I’m not sure that there are enough words to describe the complete lunacy of @RPS_Schools (Richmond, VA) randomly deciding to close for the first week of Nov to ‘protect employees’ mental health’ after 19 months of disruption to the families they SERVE,” the ‘mom’ account noted at the start of a lengthy thread that included a link to a News12 story regarding the closure.

I'm not sure that there are enough words to describe the complete lunacy of @RPS_Schools (Richmond, VA) randomly deciding to close for the first week of Nov to 'protect employees' mental health' after 19 months of disruption to the families they SERVE.https://t.co/2nP0rLBYZy

— NYC Angry Mom (@angrybklynmom) October 21, 2021

“I recognize I’m giving our families very short notice of this calendar change and truly apologize for the inconvenience it will cause,” noted Superintendent Jason Kamras in a direct update from the district.

“After very careful consideration, I made this decision because I think it’s essential for our employees’ mental health. And because of their mental health, I worry about significant staff absences on November 1 and 3, which could make it very difficult for us to follow our COVID-19 distancing protocols, putting student and staff health in jeopardy,” he continued.

“Again, I sincerely apologize for the short notice and thank you in advance for your understanding,” he added.

The closures on Nov. 1 and 3 will give students the entire week off.

NYC Angry Mom ripped the decision.

“Hi, @RPS_Schools – YOU ARE A TAXPAYER FUNDED ESSENTIAL SERVICE, & YOU SERVE YOUR COMMUNITY. You don’t get to decide to randomly close with 2 weeks notice,” she wrote. “What should the working families of those children do now? What should the children do? How is this even legal?”

In response to the initial tweet, Kelly added: “The NERVE – the kids always come last.”

The absolute NERVE – the kids always come last. https://t.co/KCR3Y5vmRI

— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) October 21, 2021

Continuing, the NYC Angry Mom account argued that Richmond education department staffers and “especially teachers” are able to take off “infinitely more time” to deal with “‘their mental health'” than most other working Americans, noting that many are off during the summer months when schools are out of session.

“Approximately 12 weeks more than a privileged private sector worker, to be exact,” she wrote. “This should not be tolerated.”

The writer then lambasted Democrats in general.

“I NEVER again want to hear a Dem try to claim that public schools are essential. You blew it. You have destroyed your credibility & are causing a death spiral of public education. Congrats, @rweingarten & @BeckyPringle as well,” the ‘angry mom’ continued, singling out Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the industry’s largest unions, and Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association, another major teachers’ union and the largest labor organization in the country.

The angry mom from Brooklyn also called out a St. Louis-area public school for closing as well and during a similar timeframe.

“Apparently Richmond isn’t alone! Look at @RitenourSchools in St. Louis, MO closing their doors on 11/1 for a ‘staff self-care day’. Congratulations on showing your community how inessential public education is,” the angry mom noted in a post containing a link to a local news story by KDSK regarding the Ritenour High School closure.

“The ongoing challenges of this school year is resulting in unprecedented stress felt by students, families and every staff group in our organization,” the outlet quoted Superintendent Dr. Chris Kilbride as saying in a letter to families. “The levels of stress I’ve witnessed in our staff have been more concerning than at any other time in my 22 years in Ritenour.”

The angry mom went on to note that another school district in the Charlotte-Mecklenberg, N.C., region, is also closing Nov. 1.

Look, here’s yet another district voting on whether to give staff the ability to work remotely on 11/1, but at least they’re not pretending it’s about mental health.https://t.co/E866ifnF5A

— NYC Angry Mom (@angrybklynmom) October 21, 2021

“Do these districts simply not care that families rely on schools to be a source of stability for their children? This would have been awful in a normal year, but after 19 months of disruption, it’s unconscionable,” the angry mom wrote, referencing COVID-19 pandemic-related school closures.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Jon Dougherty

Staff Writer
[email protected]

Jon is a staff writer for BizPac Review with 30 years' worth of reporting experience, as well as an author and U.S. Army veteran. He has a BA in political science from Ashford University and an MA in national security studies/intelligence analysis from American Military University.

Latest posts by Jon Dougherty (see all)

• Jan. 6 committee chair Benny Thompson offers a stunning take on potential Trump criminal actions - January 2, 2022
• Life-long New Yorker posts ‘sad’ Twitter ode on post-pandemic Big Apple being ‘shadow of its former self’ - January 2, 2022
• NYPD officer shot in head in police lot as he slept in vehicle between shifts - January 2, 2022

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.