7/21/2019 SD42 Parent Letter - August 25 2014
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August 25, 2014
Dear parents/guardians,
I hope you have all had an opportunity this summer to enjoy the
beautiful weather. As the summer nears its end and the
beginning of the school year approaches, I am writing to give
you an update on the ongoing labour dispute.
As you are aware, the BC Teachers Federation (BCTF) and the BC
Public School Employers Association (BCPSEA) reached
an impasse with regard to negotiating a new contract during our
last school year, and the BCTF escalated to a full-scale strike
on June 17, 2014. Unfortunately, the two parties have not made
significant progress over the summer months and so the
possibility of schools opening following Labour Day is
uncertain.
We remain hopeful that the two parties will reach a negotiated
settlement before schools are due to open. As a result, a
decision
on school opening will likely not be made until as late as
Monday, September 1 st to provide the maximum amount of time to
reach a negotiated settlement. We encourage you to consult our
website (www.sd42.ca)and follow the local media for anychanges over
the long weekend. There are two main possibilities:
1. If there is a settlement, our expectation is that all public
schools in the Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadows School District will
openat the usual time on Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014.
Administrators and teachers will work hard to ensure that students
areactively engaged in learning opportunities as class placements
at elementary and course scheduling at secondary arefinalized.
2. If there is no settlement, some or all schools in the Maple
Ridge - Pitt Meadows School District may be behind picket lines.
Inthis scenario, a withdrawal of service will again impact the
school districts ability to provide educationalservices for
students. While schools will remain open, we will not be able to
offer our regular instruction as we anticipate thatunionized staff
will not cross the picket lines. As a result, we will again request
that parents not send their children to schooland seek alternate
childcare arrangements. The safety of our students is our highest
priority. Should any students arrive atschool while picket lines
are in place, our school administrators will ensure that they are
supervised until they can be safelyreturned to the care of a parent
or guardian.
Kindergarten gradual entry may also have to be modified because
of the current labour situation. We encourage parents to
watch for a School District No. 42 Parent Portal message that
will provide you with specific school information regarding
kindergarten startup.
We have an outstanding public school system in British Columbia,
and we are proud of the hard work and support provided by
all staff in our school district. It is our hope that the labour
impasse is resolved quickly at the bargaining table, and that we
can
soon return to normal operations.
Information about how parents and guardians can access the
$40.00 per day per child support announced by the provincial
government can be found at http://bcparentinfo.ca/. Other
websites that provide information about the labour issues
include
http://www.bcsta.org/,
https://www.bctf.ca/,http://www.bcpsea.bc.ca/andhttp://bccpac.bc.ca/.
I want to thank you for your patience and understanding during
this challenging time.
Sincerely,
Laurie Meston
Acting Superintendent of Schools
School District No. 42 Maple RidgePitt Meadows
http://www.sd34.bc.ca/http://www.sd34.bc.ca/http://www.sd34.bc.ca/http://bcparentinfo.ca/http://bcparentinfo.ca/http://bcparentinfo.ca/http://www.bcsta.org/http://www.bcsta.org/https://www.bctf.ca/https://www.bctf.ca/http://www.bcpsea.bc.ca/http://www.bcpsea.bc.ca/http://www.bcpsea.bc.ca/http://bccpac.bc.ca/http://bccpac.bc.ca/http://bccpac.bc.ca/http://bccpac.bc.ca/http://www.bcpsea.bc.ca/https://www.bctf.ca/http://www.bcsta.org/http://bcparentinfo.ca/http://www.sd34.bc.ca/
