Local public school officials are working on a plan to deal with any disruptions that might arise in late June as a result of the ongoing labour dispute involving B.C. teachers and their employers.
Last week, the head of the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA) announced that in response to this week’s rotating strikes by the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF), the government planned to lock out all secondary-school teachers on June 25 and 26, and both elementary and secondary school teachers on June 27 if no resolution to the dispute is reached by then.
With Grade 10 English students and Grade 11 social studies students scheduled to write their provincial exams on June 24, “there will be no teachers present to mark thousands of exams,” BCTF officials said in a statement.
June 23 to 27 is scheduled to be the final week of school in the Sea to Sky District for the 2013-’14 school year, district superintendent Lisa McCullough said on Monday (May 26). While Friday, June 27, is to be an administrative day — with no students in attendance — Grade 10 and 11 students are expected to write their exams on Tuesday, June 24.
If a lockout does occur, district administrative staff and principals plan to mark those exams on Wednesday and Thursday, June 25 and 26.
“Unless something changes significantly, we do not anticipate any trouble marking provincial exams by the end of that day,” McCullough said.
On Monday (May 26), the BCTF’s rotating job action hit the Sea to Sky district, with teachers and representatives of the union representing school support workers walking picket lines in front of schools in Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton.
Carl Walker, Sea to Sky Teachers’ Association (SSTA) president, said local teachers joined their colleagues across the province in “taking a stand for smaller classes, better support for students and a fair and reasonable salary increase.”
“Teachers in our community, like teachers across B.C., don’t take this job action lightly,” Walker said in a statement issued on Friday (May 23). “As teachers, we care deeply about our students and we empathize with parents who have to rework their schedules. Many of us are parents, too, and that is one of the reasons we are taking this action.”
McCullough said on Tuesday that the BCTF job action shouldn’t affect any extracurricular activities planned this week or weekend in Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton.
“Teachers are only locked out of completing some duties related to their job, which the BCTF previously stated they would not be doing,” she said.
