Parents sore over Friday’s public school fumbling
Public board sorry for short notice
Thousands of Hamilton f amilies scrambled to get their kids to school Friday after the public school board at the last minute reversed its decision to cancel classes.
Ashley McLean had already paid for a babysitter for the day.
“It’s ridiculous. I’m shocked,” McLean said. “They handled this situation horribly.”
On Wednesday, the city’s 96 public elementary schools announced they would be closed Friday due to a oneday teacher walkout.
But after the Ontario Labour Relations Board deemed the walkout an illegal strike, the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board updated its website at 5:30 a.m. Friday to announce classes were back on.
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) emerged from an all-night hearing with the labour relations board at 4:30 a.m. Friday.
The board chair deemed the planned walkout an “unlawful strike,” and the ETFO told its members to report to work.
The notice was too short for many families. McLean, for one, was unable to get the day off work and had already paid $80 for a babysitter.
She didn’t learn school was back on until 10 a.m. Her daughter, 10year-old Br’Yanna, did not attend her Grade 5 classes at Ray Lewis elementary school.
Only 13,681 Hamilton students made it to class Friday—less than half of the 34,203 enrolled across the board.
“We had hoped for a very different decision, obviously,” said Sam Hammond, president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario.
“But the ETFO and myself and our members will respect — we do respect — the decision that was made here over the course of the last 12 to 13 hours by the chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board.”
The HWDSB apologized for the short notice on its website and said buses would be running.
“It would have taken 20 hours to make the 35,000 calls needed to let parents know through the phone,” said board chair Tim Simmons.
“Our (automated) system has a limited capacity; it wasn’t really an option. Parents should know that if students couldn’t make it to school today, they won’t be marked as absent.”
Simmons says aside from their website update, the board relied heavily on media to get the message out that school would be open.
“The timing of the EFTO decision was beyond our control,” he added. “We believe that keeping the schools open is always in the best interest of our students.”
The online apology wasn’t enough to pacify parents, angry about the last-minute change.
Joanne Turnell, whose children attend C.H. Bray elementary school in Ancaster, took the day off work and arranged with several other parents to watch their children.
She left the six Grade 6 boys sleeping despite the call back. They’d stayed up all night in anticipation of a day-off.
“Shame on the teachers for not respecting our students… I hope they all have empty classrooms today and I wish they (the teachers) had all got fined,” Turnell said. “I’m entirely frustrated and I have absolutely no sympathy for the teachers.”
Melissa Dawson was also affected by the board’s decision to open school.
When she found out school was back on around 11 a.m., she scrambled to pack lunches and get her three kids dressed. Kyle, her 11year-old autistic son, insisted he wasn’t going.
“He was not impressed,” she said. “Every one told him he had the day off. They are children. They don’t understand what’s going on.”
In reaction to Friday’s events, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation cancelled a walkout of public high school teachers next Wednesday.
Elementary schools i n Halton were also open Friday, however, the public board warned of possible delayed buses. rgrover@thespec.com 905-526-3404 | @RosieSpec mhayes@thespec.com 905-526-3214