THUNDER BAY — A decision whether to close most Thunder Bay-area high schools and elementary schools on Wednesday was still pending early Tuesday evening.
The Lakehead public and Thunder Bay Catholic boards both continued to wait for the outcome of last-minute negotiations in Toronto aimed at averting a one-day strike by members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation.
The OSSTF set a midnight deadline for reaching a deal.
If there was no agreement by then, it said its members would be off the job Wednesday only.
Both local school boards advised parents and students to monitor the media or check their Facebook pages or websites regularly for updates.
The OSSTF represents not just public high school teachers but other employees of both boards such as early childhood educators, student support staff and attendance counsellors.
Reports about the status of contract bargaining Tuesday were not encouraging.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the province had presented a new "framework" to the OSSTF negotiators in a bid to keep the parties at the table.
However, union president Harvey Bischof denied that, saying there had been no progress in negotiations for days.
In the event of a strike, the French-language schools in Thunder Bay–L’école catholique Franco-Supérieur and L’école secondaire catholique de La Vérendrye–will remain open and transportation will be provided as none of the staff at those schools belong to OSSTF.
The public board said daycares located in elementary schools will remain open.
The Catholic board advised clients of before school and after school daycares to contact their daycare provider for information regarding hours of operation and services.
