Four school boards spanning across the Brockville, Kingston and Belleville areas have announced they will be closing schools next week if education workers go on strike.
On Thursday, the Upper Canada District School board announced they would be closing their schools on Monday in case of a strike, and on Friday, the Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic School Board, the Limestone District School Board and the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board announced they will be closing their schools next week if education workers walk off the job.
The French schoolboard in the Kingston region, Conseil scolaire catholique MonAvenir says they will be aiming to keep their schools open in the event of a strike.
Around 55,000 members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), including educational assistants, custodians, maintenance staff and early childhood education workers, have been under a work-to-rule campaign since last Monday.
On Wednesday, CUPE announced that if a deal was not reached with the province by Sunday, education workers would be going on strike starting Monday, Oct. 7.
The Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board says it has decided to close schools if education workers go on strike for several reasons, including a lack of supervision, not being able to report student attendance, a lack of medical supports and care, concerns over safe operation of water and sanitation systems, concerns over the condition of school buildings and classrooms and the overall safety and security of students and staff.
The other school boards are closing due to similar concerns.
Algonquin Lakeshore Catholic School Board says they would not be able to safely operate their schools if their over 500 CUPE members would go on strike. The Upper Canada District School Board says they have over 1,600 CUPE employees that may potentially walk off the job.
In each case, the school boards are asking parents to make arrangements for their children during the day.
For those in Loyalist Township, the municipality is offering a day camp that can accommodate about 30 children a day, but they must be residents of the township.
Limestone District School Board and the Algonquin Lakeshore Catholic School Board say child-care facilities run out of the schools will be closed and all community use of their schools will be cancelled if education workers strike.
The Boys and Girls Club of Kingston says they will be offering day camps for Grades one and up, but are not able to offer the same service for kindergarten students during the potential strike due to ministry requirements and restricted space.
The Kingston, Brockville and Belleville YMCA’s are offering some sort of day programming for students in case of a strike, but spaces are limited.
Upper Canada District School Board says third-party day-cares will remain open during a strike.
Many of the boards say they will be monitoring the situation closely and will keep parents up to date through the website and over social media over the weekend.
Despite the school closures, staff who are not affected by the strike will still be required to work.