Local school trustees have politely rebuffed a call by Sea to Sky public school teachers that the board repudiate its own province-wide bargaining entity's initiative that would claw back 15 per cent of teachers' salaries in response to the current teacher job action.
The job action, which has dragged on since early September, has seen teachers perform regular classroom duties while refusing to take on administrative tasks, including writing report cards. Late last month, the B.C. Public School Employers Association (BCPSEA), the group working on behalf of school boards in negotiations with teachers, applied to the B.C. Labour Relations Board (LRB) for the authority to fine the B.C. Teachers' Association (BCTA) the equivalent of 15 per cent of teachers' pay until the contract dispute is settled.
The Sea to Sky Teachers' Association (SSTA) last week asked the board to speak out in opposition to the BCPSEA initiative on the premise that, according to the SSTA letter, "while teachers may not be attending administrative meetings or writing formal report cards, they are certainly not working any less."
SSTA also asked the board to immediately rectify a shortage of qualified teachers' assistants who provide the extra help special needs students as guaranteed under provincial legislation.
In its response, sent by board chair Rick Price to the SSTA last Thursday (Nov. 10), the board side-stepped the request for a statement of non-support for the 15 per cent clawback move.
"While we continue to support the hard work that our teachers do on behalf of our students, we also recognize that the two bargaining agents involved in this negotiation process are the BCTF and BSPSEA. Like your Association, we hope that these two bargaining parties can arrive at a mutually beneficial agreement soon," the board's letter states.
On the second question, Price and the board contended that SSTA President Beth Miller had met last week with district Superintendent Lisa McCullough about class size and composition concerns "and that you (Miller) are aware that all statutory obligations of our Board under the School Act had been and continue to be met."
Price's letter also sought to address local teachers' concerns that the board is not advocating strongly enough for increased funding for educational resources. The B.C. School Trustees' Association (BCSTA), of which District 48 is a member, recently reiterated its concerns about funding, Price wrote. He added that local trustees, "through the BCSTA, continue to advocate for public education needs."
Miller wrote in an email to The Chief on Tuesday (Nov. 16) that local teachers found the board's response "completely unsatisfying," especially given the fact that board members running for re-election - including Price and Andrea Beaubien, the two current Squamish trustees -were asked to respond individually and chose not to.
"While I certainly don't want to antagonize the school board, I do think they need to be accountable for their actions, and teachers are upset about trustees' implicit support of both BCPSEA's LRB submission, and the current government's chronic underfunding," Miller wrote.
