The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation has announced more job action coming down the line next week for the province and six school divisions.
Extracurricular activities will be cut from all Saskatchewan school divisions from Monday, March 25 to Thursday, March 28. This includes athletics, non-curricular arts, field trips, student travel, graduation preparations, school clubs and other activities.
The following divisions are also going to be without lunch-hour supervision on Monday:
- Holy Family Teachers’ Association
- Holy Trinity Teachers’ Association
- North East Teachers’ Association
- Prairie Spirit Teachers’ Association
- Prince Albert and Area Teachers’ Association
- Tri-West Teachers’ Association
STF president Samantha Becotte said teachers don’t want to see extracurriculars cut.
“Teachers do not want to see the cancellation of events and experiences that are meaningful to students. Government’s unwillingness to compromise leaves us no other options when it comes to negotiating a contract that provides predictable, ongoing supports for students and schools, and recognizes the important role played by teachers,” she said.
The STF has been working on a bargaining agreement with the provincial government that addresses class size and complexity in classrooms. Its most recent request of the province is to have the government agree to binding arbitration.
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Binding arbitration would involve a submission of the dispute to a neutral party, which would provide recommendations to the province and the union.
Instead, the government offered the largest increase to the province’s education budget in history, announced on Wednesday. It announced $8.8 million to start planning nine new schools for the province and two renovations. The government also raised the total operating budget to $2.2 billion for the 2024-25 school year, an increase of 8.8 per cent over last year.
The province has refused to negotiate smaller classroom sizes, additional student supports and binding arbitration into the collective agreement.
Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill says in a statement he’s disappointed by the union’s decision to continue targeting extracurricular activities.
“Government made a significant compromise to get to a deal and then for the teacher’s federation to not even stay long enough at the bargaining table to hear that full offer being expressed, that’s disappointing,” Cockrill said after the budget announcement Wednesday.
He also said he’s disappointed by the union’s decision to continue targeting extracurricular activities.
Teachers backed out of extracurriculars for two days this week, which caused the cancellation of Hoopla, the provincial high school basketball tournament.
– With files from the Canadian Press.
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