New Westminster's school board chair said he is waiting to see the impact of ramped-up job action after teachers voted last week to withdraw voluntary, extra-curricular teaching activities in response to government legislation.
James Jazen said he doesn't yet know how the teachers' decision will affect activities like sports, graduation ceremonies and arts programs in New Westminster schools and whether every teacher will have to comply with the decision.
"It will be interesting to see what happens, what individual locals decide to do, and what individual teachers decide to do," Janzen told The Record. "That's what I think we are going to find out over the next few days and weeks, is where everybody is going to go on this."
Teachers voted 73 per cent on Thursday in favour of a plan that includes refusing to participate in any voluntary activities to protest Bill 22, which imposes a six-month suspension on all strike action by teachers and appoints a mediator to negotiate a deal between the British Columbia Teachers' Union and the government. Teachers and the government have been locked in a contentious contract dispute for more than a year.
Janzen doesn't believe the most recent move by teachers will garner any support from the public, he said.
"It's unfortunate that kids get caught in the middle, and teachers who really enjoy these extra-curricular activities," Janzen said.
"It's early days," New Westminster superintendent John Woudzia said. "I guess we just have to wait and see what it will look like for the rest of the school year."
But the superintendent did say that "grad will go ahead."
The district is currently focusing on preparing report cards, Woudzia said. The Labour Relations Board ruled Friday that teachers had to do report cards from when they were on strike earlier in the school year.
BCTF president Susan Lambert acknowledged that the vote was emotional for teachers because the decision to withdraw from extra-curricular activities is so wrenching, a BCTF media release stated.
"Teachers struggle with this because these activities bring so much joy to our engagement with students. We know this will mean the loss of some highly-valued activities, and we sincerely regret that. But we have to look at the bigger picture and the longer term," she said in the release.
The plan to resist Bill 22 includes a call for teachers to help bring down the B.C. Liberals in next year's provincial election.
The Record has been trying to reach New Westminster Secondary School teacher Christine McNulty, who is also the provincial commissioner for B.C. School Sports. The B.C. School Sports track-and-field competition is held on June 1 and 2 at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby. The B.C. School Sports website states that 100,000 student athletes participate in its events.
The New Westminster Teachers' Union president was also unavailable for comment.
