Teachers won't be forced to do report cards after a B.C. Labour Relations Board ruling last week dismissed an application by the B.C. Public School Employers' Association to compel teachers to do report cards and to fine the teachers' federation 15 per cent of teachers' salaries and benefits.
In associate chair of adjudication Michael Fleming's decision, he noted that both sides had agreed to the structure of the essential services order which is in place and that none of the circumstances that gave rise to the employers' complaint were unforeseen or unpredictable.
Fleming found that teachers are in full compliance with the order and there are no grounds to change it.
"Although report cards are an important tool, they are not essential," teachers' federation president Susan Lambert said in a press release. "They are only one way in which teachers communicate students' progress to parents. Face-to-face, phone conversations, emails, handwritten notes, quiz results sent home - many different kinds of informal communication are providing parents with a clear understanding of their children's progress. Some parents have told us they feel better informed this way than with the traditional formal reporting."
In New Westminster, school superintendent John Woudzia said it will be business as usual in the district and the ruling doesn't change much.
"Students will still get report cards," said Woudzia, "but there will be little or minimal information on it."
Woudzia sent a letter home to parents on Nov. 15 saying that the School Act requires that parents receive a minimum of three written reports each year.
"Report cards will be sent home this fall," Woudzia wrote, "but will likely only include the name of the teacher(s), subjects/courses and attendance information."
Woudzia said this current report card session runs until mid-December, with the second report cards going out in the spring and the third report cards going out at the end of the school year in June.
Woudzia also reassured parents that teachers are "continuing to plan, teach, gather and record assessment and evaluation information related to your child. Teachers are also continuing to communicate progress to their students through individual feedback, marks on assignments, tests and other indications of progress."
Meanwhile, the second part of Fleming's ruling found no evidence teachers should be assessed a 15 per cent penalty.
"They (teachers) are not performing certain non-essential duties, but there is no assertion teachers are working only 85 per cent of their scheduled time while receiving 100 per cent pay," wrote Fleming in his ruling.
