A plumbing issue that prompted a two-day closure of Española Valley High School, Dec. 14 and 15, also sparked a dispute with the local chapter of a national labor organization.
Española School District officials canceled classes for two consecutive days for students, but not teachers, while crews from the maintenance department worked to repair a broken water main.
The National Education Association New Mexico Chapter filed a grievance against the District, Dec. 14, in response to the administration’s insistence that teachers and staff report to work, despite not having running water to wash hands and flush toilets.
National Educational Association New Mexico Santa Fe and Española Uniserve Representative Jon Leibowitz said demanding teachers work without adequate restroom access is contrary to the collective bargaining agreement the union negotiated with the District.
“This violates the contract,” he said. “They can house employees at other locations temporarily, if they desire, but they can’t force employees to come to work. It violates OSHA (Occupational Safety Health Administration rules).”
To address the issue in a healthy manner, Leibowitz asked the District to allow the teachers to go home and stay there until they fixed the problem.
“We requested they close the school,” he said. “I asked them to make sure they have a healthy and safe environment.”
Additionally, he said the missed work should be at the expense of the District. Under the contract, the District can’t dock the employees’ pay, since it wouldn’t have been their fault they had to miss work.
“You can’t force them to lose pay because the District didn’t keep up their end of their contractual obligations,” he said.
Española Valley High School teacher Wilmer Chavarria had to report to work during the no-water crisis.
He said it is unconscionable for the District to require the staff to work under those conditions.
“It is not only disrespectful,” he said. “It is humiliating. I am a young guy who doesn’t go to the restroom much, but what about the older people who may have medical conditions that make them use the restroom more frequently? It is not fair to ask them to go to town every time they have to use the restroom.”
Chavarria said the current incident is indicative of the “abuse” the staff endures at the hands of the administration and can be linked to many of the District’s shortcomings, like under-performing schools and staff shortages.
“I think it is not just a call to the leadership to respect the teachers in the District,” he said. “But it is also a call to the parents to not put up with this. The teachers are the ones that teach their children. They shouldn’t have a right to complain about bad education and teacher shortages, if they haven’t stood in front of the Board and addressed these abuses.”
The issue
The school closed because of a water main break that surfaced some time during the school day on Dec. 13.
District Facilities Director Adán Cordova said a team of maintenance workers stayed on site well into the early morning hours of Dec. 14, trying to fix the problem. He was hoping the break wouldn’t interrupt classes for the school’s nearly 1,000 students.
“We worked until 1 a.m. and returned at 6 a.m.,” Cordova said. “We got a report that it was percolating out of the ground and we thought we would be able to fix it without impacting the school, but learned upon further inspection, it was a main water line.”
The repair job suffered a minor setback during the first day of work, because a valve that feeds the water flow couldn’t be closed all the way.
City Public Works Director and Water Specialist Perry Vigil said the water main break was on the District’s side, so the city’s crews didn’t assist in the repairs.
According to a press release District marketing representative Barney Trujillo sent out, Dec. 14, the valve wasn’t the only setback the project suffered.
“Classes at Española Valley High School are canceled again Thursday Dec. 15, due to a water line break and the need to shut off the main water supply,” the press release states. “The replacement water line was not available locally and had to be purchased from Albuquerque.”
The District repaired the broken water line in time for classes to resume Dec. 16.
Cordova said the break was the result of the pipe’s age, as opposed to human interference.
District officials sent out early-morning robo-calls before classes started each day, to notify parents and families that students weren’t to report to class.
Antonio Medina, 16, a junior at Española Valley High, said the unexpected day off was a pleasant interruption to his normal routine. It’s something he wouldn’t mind repeating.
“Wow, it was nice waking up and finding out there was no school,” he said at Atlas Gym, Dec. 14. “I slept in late and came to the gym.”
He said he is ready to go back Dec. 15, but wouldn’t mind if it took a day or two longer to fix the break.