About 10 teachers called in sick Tuesday as an apparent protest to comments made by the principal of Kekaha Elementary School who attributed low student achievement scores “to our ineffectiveness in teaching,” according to the Garden Island newspaper.

Principal Dominic Beralas wouldn’t confirm the teachers’ strike, but said many teachers called in sick and some teachers could have been attending professional training classes in Lihue, the newspaper reported.

Beralas wouldn’t say how many teachers missed school, but acknowledged that administrators had a hard time finding substitutes.