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The Kenton County and Erlanger-Elsmere school boards are expected to follow suit this week. Covington already has canceled classes for Monday.

The missed day will be made up later in the year.

Teachers in these districts plan to participate in a statewide walkout over cuts in health-insurance benefits.

Superintendents said that they wanted to support teachers' right to complain, especially through structured events such as a rally scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday at Holmes High School in Covington.

The closure decision took many parents by surprise.

"I had no idea," said Becky Butler, who has a fourth-grader and second-grade twins at Erpenbeck Elementary School.

Informed of the board's decision, Butler said she would immediately start calling high-schoolers in search of a baby sitter for Monday, when she works 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at an insurance office.

"I can imagine it is going to be a big headache for everyone, especially if they don't hear about it," Butler said.

Superintendents were divided this week on whether a one-day strike would help or hurt the cause.

All Kentucky state workers, including 98,000 school-district employees, face an average 7 percent increase in monthly insurance premiums next year as well as thousands of dollars in additional out-of-pocket expenses for medical care. The changes were necessary to control spiraling costs, Gov. Ernie Fletcher has said.

To protest, the Kentucky Education Association called for Monday's statewide walkout. Northern Kentucky's two largest districts, Boone with 15,000 students and Kenton with 12,000, canceled classes partly because they have a number of KEA members.

But in Walton-Verona, a district of about 1,200 students, teachers elected not to walk out. Instead, a delegation of employees will represent their colleagues at the 11 a.m. Holmes High School rally, Deputy Superintendent Gene Kirchner said. "We want everyone to know we're very concerned about this issue," Kirchner said. But, he said, "It's not fair to notify parents on Wednesday or Thursday that there's no school on Monday."

Butler, the Boone County parent, said she sympathized with teachers despite the inconvenience. "They give up so much of their family time and spend so much of their own money on their classrooms," she said. "It's just a shame that they're not better taken care of."

E-mail kgutierrez@enquirer.com