THUNDER BAY -- Lakehead Public Schools say they will switch to remote learning should custodians and maintenance workers walk off the job on Monday.
The board says they'd be left with no choice should CUPE workers exercise their right to strike, five days after serving the province notice of their intent to strike.
"Should there be a full withdrawal of CUPE services, our schools would be closed to in-person learning (special needs and child care centres excepted, see details below). Programming would be delivered to your child remotely, at home, through Microsoft Teams, SeeSaw, and Edsby. Schools will begin collecting information today and tomorrow about technology needs for families to move to remote learning in case a strike is confirmed," the board said in a letter to parents.
Special needs students and child-care services would remain in-person in the event of the strike.
CUPE also represents cafeteria workers at the public board.
On the first day of a strike, students will learn on their own schedule and may not have full-time instructors, potentially watching pre-recorded lessons, completing assigned tasks or contributing to online discussion boards.
Should the strike last more than a day, students would then learn in a virtual classroom in real time.
The board's letter reminded parents that the situation could change at a moment's notice.
"We are committed to your child’s education and well-being and our educators are prepared to deliver quality education to your child in a positive, uplifting, and encouraging manner. While Lakehead Public Schools is not directly involved in the provincial negotiations, we value our CUPE staff members and remain hopeful that an agreement will be reached very soon so that a strike can be averted and schools can stay open to in-person learning. We thank you for your patience, understanding, and cooperation."
Lakehead District School Board director of education Sherri-Lynne Pharand said the board is still hopeful an agreement will be reached between the province and CUPE.
"It is certainly between the province and CUPE, but it is important that we prepare in order to ensure that we have a plan for our schools in the event that an agreement isn’t reached because CUPE has given five days notice of potential strike action," she said.
Earlier this month when CUPE held a province-wide walk-out to protest of Bill 28 passed by the provincial government imposing a contract, schools with the Lakehead board remained open.
But Pharand said keeping schools open to in-person learning would not be an option in the event of a prolonged strike.
"There are a variety of factors that went into the decision," she said. "First of all, the potential unknown length is one of them. From the action a couple of weeks ago, we also learned what we were able to maintain and not maintain with non-union staff. We have a very limited amount of non-union staff who were helping us to maintain schools and childcare spaces. We just knew we weren’t able to maintain that."
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, schools closed to in-person learning, forcing students and teachers into virtual lessons. Pharand said the best place for students is in schools but the pandemic has provided lessons for how to pivot to alternative learning options.
"At the same time, this does allow us to be able to move to virtual learning and keep some continuity of learning for our students if there is potential disruption," she said. "We continue to remain hopeful that there is a settlement at the provincial level but it is our responsibility to give families ample notice of our plans if there is a strike."
