The New Westminster School District is responding to parents with a press release that answers a number of "frequently" asked questions on the teachers' strike.
A question-and-answer release sent by superintendent John Woudzia encourages parents not to bring their children to school during the strike. The release says there will not be "sufficient" staff to provide adequate supervision for students and there will be no instruction.
"Since the safety and security of our students is always paramount, we ask parents to make alternative child-care arrangements for their children during the strike," it states.
When the three-day legal strike ends on Wednesday, the district anticipates that school will resume on Thursday. After this week, teachers will be in a legal position to strike one day a week. If there are more strike days, the B.C. Teachers' Federation must give two school days' notice. The district will send a letter home to tell families about any further strike action.
"We also recommend that you stay tuned to the media and regularly visit our district website for further news over the coming weeks," the release says.
The government has created new legislation (Bill 22) that would suspend the strike action. It is unknown at this time how long it will take the government to pass Bill 22 in the legislature.
The release outlines the programs and services that will continue during the strike. They include the New Westminster Children's After School Society, which will be offering a school-day program for children already registered in their before- and after-school programs; Continuing Education's general interest evening classes for adult learners will continue; and evening community group users (i.e., minor sports, adult user groups, rental groups) will have access to the schools as usual.
The following programs will be cancelled during strike action: after-school programs and academic night school.
To see the Q-and-A press release in its entirety, visit Niki Hope's blog at http://tinyurl.com/85nmfj6.
