The CHS PE department has been without its only female teacher, Rosalinda Castillo, who was temporarily placed on unpaid leave a few weeks ago for going on a rant against vaccinations. The incident happened on Thursday, October 14th, across all six periods.

Castillo has been teaching at CHS for 17 years, and had even coached the girls soccer team at one point.

According to her students and TAs, Castillo told her students that she had refused to get the vaccine because God told her that if she got vaccinated, she wouldn’t be able to have children in the future (she stated citing a Finnish study on reproductive health). She also declared that it was her constitutional right to not get vaccinated, and that the students should support her and defend her constitutional rights. She additionally told one class to record her if the police came to arrest her. Throughout her speech, Castillo was very passionate, and even teared up. One freshman student was there during the speech and gave The Wolfpacket a firsthand account of what happened.

“She was very passionate, walking back and forth, and had a very emotional tone when talking about going on unpaid leave,” the freshman said. “Some kids in the class were even almost moved by how emotional she was.”

CUSD is currently investigating the incident, which could take an indefinite amount of time to reach a conclusion. The punishments could range from nothing all the way up to dismissal.

The week following the incident, Dr. O’Connor came to each of the classes to talk with them about what had happened, which some people found comforting. However, the CHS administration is not giving many updates about the situation, a fact that students have found conflicting.

“I think it is good that they haven’t said that much because we definitely don’t want to be giving a platform to everything that she said,” the freshman said. “We don’t want to cause a lot more drama or more issues especially within the class. [However,] right now, we’re having different subs every week and we don’t know who our teacher is going to be, and that is the worst.”

A sense of blissful ignorance is appreciated during this situation. Many are confused and caught off guard by Castillo’s actions, however, a strong opinion towards one side could catch ill-feelings. Overall, it wouldn’t be out-of-place to say that Castillo’s actions have been strange. Whether her boldness is considered justifiable or her indoctrination into anti-vaccination beliefs is deplored, it is undeniable that her actions shocked both CHS staff and students. Castillo is rendered legally unable to make a comment on the situation.