Could kids soon be out of the classroom in Abbotsford?
Posted April 22, 2014 5:57 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
ABBOTSFORD (NEWS1130) – There’s a real possibility classes could be cancelled sometime soon according to Superintendent Kevin Godden.
All efforts to come to a settlement with support workers have hit a deadlock. “Walked away from the table, and while they have to give us 72-hour strike notice, we have to expect that could happen any day so we’ve alerted our parents and our whole school community that this possibility exists.”
He says if they do set up picket lines at any of the 50 sites, teachers also won’t cross.
“The minute our support staff themselves don’t attend the work site, and the teachers themselves don’t attend the work site, then in fact, students cannot come to school.”
He says even if they simply withdraw some services, it could be tough to keep schools running. “In a typical school, a support staff is a person like a secretary, our educational assistants who work with kids with special needs, our bus drivers, our maintenance workers, our custodians.”
Godden feels the district has done all it can at this point. “Disappointing that we’ve landed in this place because one of the things we want to make sure is that we do not have these kinds of things impact our students.”
This all comes as BC teachers get ready to start phase one of their job action on Wednesday.
The Teamsters Union has not returned calls from News1130.
