If the union representing education workers does strike on Friday, Peterborough, Ont. area school boards have now communicated plans with parents.
The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland Clarington Catholic District School Board (PVNCCDSB), Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board (KPRDSB) and Trillium Lakelands District School Board (TLDSB) will close their schools Friday if a deal isn’t reached between the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the province or CUPE calls off its job action.
“We remain hopeful and optimistic a deal at the central table will be reached before tomorrow (Friday) morning,” Joan Carragher, PVNCCDSB director of education told Global News Peterborough.
“If that’s not the case, and we move to legislation or a protest tomorrow, we are left with no choice — because of the safety of our students and staff, we will close our schools to in-person learning tomorrow.”
PVNCCDSB will connect with their students on Friday through regular communication platforms such as Google Classrooms, and provide an asynchronous online school model for the day where students can complete the work on their own time, whenever it’s convenient, without having set online classes throughout the day.
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“That really gives us time to make sure our students have the technology they need,” Carragher added.
“If this disruption happens to go into next week, we will move into the synchronous model, in terms of our teachers being live with their students. We’ll be prepared to do that on Monday, if indeed this goes into next week.”
Parents received email communication late Wednesday from KPRDSB, informing of impending school closures Friday.
“This is a rapidly evolving situation hat we are following closely,” the email states.
“We will provide confirmation to families on Thursday afternoon/evening, as soon as we are able about school status for Friday, November 4, through School Messenger (direct email), website and social media platforms.”
Like PVNCCDSB, KPRDSB will also pivot to an asynchronous learning model on Friday, should schools close.
“If job action extends beyond Friday, information will be shared about a technology deployment plan,” the board states.
KPRDSB child care centres will remain open although before and after school programs, early years centres and facility partner programs would be closed.
PVNCCDSB and KPRDSB students enrolled in the online learning stream will not be affected by any job action on Friday.
TLDSB will also close schools on Friday, should job action occur, but it will not pivot to an asynchronous learning model for the day.
“Since our communication on October 31, a decision to not proceed with asynchronous learning on Friday has been made to allow our teachers and designated early childhood educators time to prepare for student learning next week,” Wes Hahn, TLDSB director of education, stated.
“Students are encouraged to work on previously assigned projects, assignments, and independent work on Friday.”
However, TLDSB communications manager Carolynne Bull tells Global News, should strike action continue into next week, students will pivot to asynchronous learning on Monday before moving to full synchronous learning starting Tuesday.
Parents are encouraged by all three boards to continue to monitor their social media platforms and other communication methods for the latest information on a possible school closure Friday.
As for child care, the City of Peterborough tells Global News the city-operated school-age programs at Westmount and Edmison Heights public schools will be closed along with the schools.
Pearson Child Care Centre and Peterborough Day Care Centre are licensed to provide care for children aged 0-4 and cannot provide care for older children based on licensing regulations.
At the Peterborough branch of the YMCA, there are no extra programs scheduled for Friday for students who may not be in class.
Officials there tell Global News, that they will continue to assess the situation and if the strike continues into the next week, they will revisit their discussions on running a program.
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