A teacher who is not vaccinated against coronavirus holed herself up in a preschool in the northern city of Haifa Thursday morning after being asked to leave for refusing to get tested for the pathogen.
The teacher arrived as a substitute at a special education preschool in Haifa's Kiryat Eliezer neighborhood.
Police arrive at special education preschool after unvaccinated teacher refused to leave
(Video: Lior El-Hai)
The regular teacher had prior knowledge that the substitute is refusing to get tested for coronavirus as required by unvaccinated educators and decided to forgo her day off and arrive at the establishment anyway.
The substitute teacher arrived at the place without wearing a face mask. The regular teacher asked her to put a mask on and stay away from the children, but she refused and even hole herself up in the place.
The regular teacher contacted the Education Ministry and local authorities and then went on to gather the children and take them out to a shaded area in the yard where they waited.
The regional Education Ministry supervisor, the director of the municipal preschool department and the kindergarten staff pleaded the recalcitrant substitute teacher who refused to heed their calls.
After some back and forth between the sides, she ultimately agreed to leave the place and the children were allowed back inside.
In the afternoon, police officers arrived at the establishment to maintain the order. There were no unusual incidents and the police left the scene.
"This is an incident that should not have happened. Educators should be responsible for the health and wellbeing of pupils, especially in special education where children are at a higher risk from the virus," a Haifa education official told Ynet.
"The regular teacher should be commended for taking responsibility and coming to the kindergarten to deal with the issue in a professional manner while preventing any risk to the children and maintaining their safety and health."