Movies, McDonald’s – but no classes at McClatchy High during teachers strike, students say

Students who showed up for school at C.K. McClatchy High in Sacramento on Thursday said no classroom instruction was provided during the one-day teachers strike. Instead, they spent their day watching movies – or gave up and left.

The Sacramento City Unified School District had assured parents that Thursday would be a regularly scheduled school day during the strike by the Sacramento City Teachers Association. But that did not appear to be the case at McClatchy.

Students who crossed the picket line to attend school said said vice principals and security did not allow students to go to class, but rather divided them by grade, sent them to the gymnasium, library or auditorium and showed movies.

»»Full coverage: Hundreds of Sacramento teachers stage one-day strike

Several students walked out after an hour of sitting in the auditorium watching “Spider-Man” as their teachers walked the picket line nearby.

Freshman Olivia Niu, 14, walked out the double doors with two friends. She said the school’s vice principal was sitting with the students in the dimmed auditorium during the movie, and she was bored.

“My mom came to bring me food, but we aren’t doing anything, so I told her I’m going to leave,” Niu said as she passed dozens of striking schoolteachers on the sidewalk.

Teachers union Vice President Nikki Milevsky said the district may not have been able to employ the hundreds of replacement teachers it needed to provide regular instruction at each school during the strike, which protests alleged unfair labor practices by the district.

The overwhelming majority of teachers were on strike at McClatchy, according to union representative and government teacher Lori Jablonski. She said the union was not aware of any substitutes working at McClatchy on Thursday or crossing picket lines.

District spokesman Alex Barrios said he was aware of reports that students walked out of class, but that he could not comment on staffing levels until the end of the school day.

“As soon as we’re done we’ll look at the reports” and assess the strike’s impact across the district’s 75 campuses excluding independent charter schools, he said.

Student Jaydon Jefferson-Saenz, 17, pulled up to school in his two-seater car, and when he and his friends realized classes were not in session, they went to the nearby McDonald’s.

“There were enough students at McDonald’s to create a classroom,” Jefferson-Saenz said.

Jefferson-Saenz was unable to take his friends off campus in his small car, so they returned and played football in the front circle visitor parking lot.

Students in attendance Thursday were being escorted to bathrooms to prevent them from leaving, according to teachers on the picket line.

It was unclear how many administrators were monitoring students in each building, but students said they weren’t being instructed in classrooms.

Sacramento City Unified Board of Education member Lisa Murawski walked up to the school with her two sons, a bowl of candy and a guitar to perform a song for the teachers.

“I know you give your all to our kids daily, and this conflict is tearing us all apart,” Murawski sang.

Murawski met with teachers on the sidewalk who were holding signs that read, “Keep your promises to our kids.”

Union Vice President Milevsky stood listening to the performance and later told Murawski that district Superintendent Jorge Aguilar should come out to meet with the teachers on strike.

Some students said they felt as though they couldn’t leave.

Student Kimmy Moran texted friends on campus, “It’s like we are being held hostage.”

She said she contacted her mother to sign her out for the day.

Bee reporter Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks contributed to this report.