The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board will close its schools if education support staff represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees hit the picket line next week.
The board on Friday announced that their schools will switch to online learning in the event of job action, joining the Northwest Catholic District School Board and most Rainy River District School Board schools in preparing to make the pivot.
Board officials said its employees represented by CUPE include custodial staff, along with maintenance and trade staff.
“The safety of our students is our top priority and the arrival of winter weather coupled with ongoing staffing challenges were both factors in the decision to close schools to students at this time,” director of education Christy Radbourne said in a written statement.
In the event of a strike starting next Monday, schools will be closed and students will have asynchronous learning activities. If the action continues into Tuesday, virtual classes will begin.
Families will be notified Sunday afternoon if schools will be closed for in-person learning, the board said.
Radbourne said the board is in the process of preparing internet hotspots for families who do not have internet access.
“We will do all we can to get hotspots ready as quickly as possible as we know these are essential for students who do not have the internet to participate in virtual learning. When the hotspots are ready, your child’s school will notify you directly and make arrangements for you to pick them up,” she said.
Radbourne said she remains hopeful that a resolution can be reached.
The union and province returned to the bargaining table last week, with the Ford government repealing Bill 28, the previous legislation that would have imposed a new four-year contract on the union and declared any strike action illegal. The negotiations again reached an impasse, prompting the union to again file the five-day strike notice earlier this week.
