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Kelowna  

Teacher strike

For the second time in three years teachers across BC will take part in job action to back demands for a new contract.

The current agreement between the BC Teachers' Federation and the province expired in June of last year.

According to federation president, Jim Iker, phase one of job action, scheduled to begin Wednesday, will not affect what goes on inside the classroom.

Teachers will cease supervising students before and after school and during recess.

Report cards will still be prepared and teachers will continue to meet with parents.

Teachers will also continue to take part in extracurricular activities such as sports, music and drama.

In School District 23, district management staff outside the BCTF, principals and vice-principals will handle before and after school supervision beginning on Wednesday.

SD23 Superintendent, Hugh Gloster, says the challenge revolves around afternoon recess at elementary schools in the district.

Gloster says recess will be supervised for the balance of the week but adds a letter will go home to parents tomorrow indicating that, as of next Monday, recess will be cancelled for the duration of the job action and the school day will end 15 minutes early.

He says this will give parents a chance to adjust their schedules or that of after school care givers.

"The same will be true for middle and secondary schools in order to get our bus fleet on the same schedule," says Gloster.

"We will ask our middle and secondary schools to adjust their schedules so they can end 15 minutes earlier. That will typically be done by shortening up the lunch break and/or the break between classes."

Those changes come into effect next Monday.

The BCTF issued 72 hour strike notice last Friday.

Other districts around the Okanagan are also preparing their own strike action plans. For information on your school district see below.

 

 

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