This Friday (June 13) could be the last day of the 2013-’14 school year for public-school students in the Sea to Sky and across B.C. That is, unless a deal between striking teachers and their employer is reached over the weekend.
B.C. teachers are set to take part in an all-day “study session” on Monday (June 16) and begin a full-scale strike on Tuesday, B.C. Teachers Federation president Jim Iker said on Thursday (June 12).
If a full-scale strike does occur, regularly scheduled exams for Grade 10 to 12 students and final marks for Grade 12s will be completed, as per a B.C. Labour Relations Board ruling that they qualify as essential services.
In a statement sent home to parents, Sea to Sky School District superintendent Lisa McCullough said the district is consulting with the Sea to Sky Teachers’ Association (SSTA) regarding the number of teachers who will be required to administer provincial exams between June 16 and 24. She said students are encouraged to continue preparations for those exams.
If Friday turns out to be the last day of school, “students are encouraged to return school materials and property to their respective schools and classrooms at the earliest opportunity,” McCullough wrote, adding that students were being asked to take personal belongings home on Friday.
Grade 10, 11 and 12 students writing provincial exams are allowed to keep textbooks until the exam is completed.
Education Minister Peter Fassbender said the government’s application to the board aimed to ensure that students’ educational goals aren’t adversely affected by the dispute.
“Our main focus… is to get to an agreement by June 30, 2014, and put this disruption behind us,” Fassbender said, adding that he’s confident a deal can be reached “if the BCTF comes to the table with realistic expectations and a willingness to find solutions.”
In a statement, Iker said the BCTF has provided the employer with notice that the full withdrawal of services will begin on Tuesday. The BCTF said Monday’s plan to have teachers attend off-site “study sessions” on Monday is an extension of Stage 2 job action that has included three weeks of “rotating” picket lines across the province. Schools will not be picketed, but teachers will not be on site, he said.
Sea to Sky public school teachers staged their third day of the BCTF’s “rotating” strike action in as many weeks on Wednesday (June 11).
Teachers and their supporters walked picket lines in front of mostly empty schools in Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton on Wednesday, a day after BCTF members voted 86 per cent in favour of full, province-wise strike action.
The dispute is not expected to affect 2014 graduation ceremonies planned on June 20 at Howe Sound Secondary School.
