Strike would close Catholic schools, board decides
Principals say safety of ‘most vulnerable students’ is their main concern
The Ottawa Catholic School Board says it will close its schools if support staff go on strike Monday, while the two French boards plan to keep schools open.
About 55,000 support staff, who are members of CUPE, in schools across the province plan to walk out if negotiations set to resume on Friday fail. CUPE began a workto-rule on Monday.
At the Ottawa Catholic School Board, CUPE represents 1,300 full-time and nearly 1,000 casual support staff.
“We did not feel we could safely operate our schools without their services,” the board said in a letter to parents posted on the website.
School closures at the board would affect nearly 44,000 students from kindergarten to Grade 12. Most of them are in elementary grades. The board has 82 elementary schools and 16 high schools.
The decision to close schools in the event of a strike “came after careful deliberation,” says the board. School buses will be cancelled.
The board said parents should check the website for announcements and updates, and a message will be sent to parents Sunday night to update them on the outcome of negotiations, which could continue throughout the weekend.
At the Ottawa Catholic School Board, CUPE represents early-childhood educators who work in kindergartens, office administrators, library technicians, learning-technology technicians, fulltime adult ESL instructors, some central board staff, and educational assistants, who help students with special-education needs, mental health and behavioural challenges.
At many other school boards across the province, CUPE also represents custodians.
Ottawa’s French public school board said schools will remain open if there is a strike, but extracurricular activities and field trips will be suspended. Le Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario warns there may be delays in answering school entrance buzzers and has asked parents to tell students to bring garbage from lunch boxes home to reduce buildup at schools.
The Ottawa French Catholic school board posted a message saying they will keep schools open if there is a strike because they decided
The ability to maintain safe and inclusive school environments may be compromised in the event of a strike. Schools should only remain open if they can be safe learning environments …
the safety of students would not be at risk, but administration will monitor the situation closely.
CUPE only represents custodians and tradespeople at the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est.
Ottawa’s largest school board, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, is not affected because employees there are not members of CUPE.
Some Ontario boards announced plans to close schools in the event of a strike, including three of the largest: the Toronto District School Board, the Peel District School Board and the York Region District School Board.
The associations representing Ontario school principals issued a joint letter Thursday warning that a support-staff strike may compromise the ability of schools to “maintain a safe and inclusive school environment.”
“Labour disruptions, including strikes, are particularly challenging for our most vulnerable students,” said the statement. “Without (educational assistants), the safety and learning of students with special needs will be impacted. Without custodians, breakfast programs and extracurriculars will be difficult to run; facilities will not be adequately cleaned; and safety hazards that may arise during a day, such as spills, vomit and other situations, may not receive immediate attention.
“Without (early childhood educators), there will be challenges with the adult supervision of young children. The ability to maintain safe and inclusive school environments may be compromised in the event of a strike. Schools should only remain open if they can be safe learning environments accessible to all, particularly our most vulnerable students.”
In the Ottawa area, CUPE also represents support staff at the Upper Canada District School Board; the Renfrew County District School Board; the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario; and the Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien.
The Upper Canada District School Board said in a post on Oct. 2 that it is “working through what actions we will need to take if a strike takes place. Due to the uncertainty around the situation, we encourage parents and guardians to have childcare plans in place for Monday.” CUPE represents 1,600 employees at that board, or about 40 per cent of the workforce.
In an interview Thursday with radio host Craig Needles, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said he was surprised when CUPE announced plans to strike only two days after members began a workto-rule.
During the last round of negotiations, the union worked to rule for five weeks before reaching a deal, he said.
High-pressure environments are common in labour negotiations, Lecce said. “They did this last time, folks. They did this with the NDP and the Liberals and the Tories. It’s what we all have in common.”
Lecce said he remained confident a deal could be hammered out this weekend. jmiller@postmedia.com twitter.com/JacquieAMiller