Southwestern school boards announce contingency plans as CUPE workers give strike notice

The union representing 55,000 Ontario education is poised to return to the picket line after filing a five-day notice to strike.

On Wednesday, the Canadian Union of Public Employees’ (CUPE) said negotiations broke down between the union and the provincial government.

“I urge the Ford government to seize the time we have and do the right thing. Come forward with a deal that truly helps students catch up,” Laura Walton, president of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions, said Wednesday at a news conference.

The previous strike by CUPE, which was earlier this month, lasted two days before talks resumed between the labour union and the province.

Here are the contingency plans some school boards in southwestern Ontario are implementing:

WATERLOO CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

The Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) will once again pivot to remote learning in the event CUPE holds a strike

"As before — given such a large number of potentially absent staff, should a strike occur, it will not be possible to safely open and operate our schools," the school board said in an update Wednesday.

The WCDSB has more than 1,200 staff represented by CUPE in multiple different roles in schools.

The school board will provide Chromebooks to students who need them.

The full statement can be read here.

HURON-PERTH CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

The Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board (HPCDSB) said it will be distributing Chromebooks to students Wednesday and Thursday.

“It would be prudent to prepare for several more days of remote learning after Monday,” the school board said in an update on its website.

The full statement can be read here.

UPPER GRAND DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

The Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) said on Thursday it will try its best to keep schools open to in-person learning as much as possible.

In doing so, the school board has broken its schools into two categories, schools with CUPE custodial staff and schools without custodial staff.

The schools with CUPE custodial staff will remain open to in-person learning and switch to remote learning on Thursday, Nov. 24.

Schools without CUPE staff will not switch to remote learning.

All schools will be closed on Nov. 25 for a Professional Activity day

“The contingency plans above, with CUPE custodial schools staying in-person three days next week, and schools without CUPE custodial staff staying in person four days next week is based on what we learned from the previous withdrawal of services, our overall system maintenance needs and our ability to perform the necessary functions to keep schools safe, clean and the whole system operational,” the school board said.

The board said roughly 240 of its employees, including custodial and maintenance staff as well as adult ESL instructors, are CUPE members.

The school board noted keeping schools open “will be very challenging without the services of our valued CUPE employees. “

The UGDSB did not pivot to remote learning during the previous two-day CUPE strike, however, a contingency plan was in place to move to remote learning if the strike continued.

The full statement can be read here.

WELLINGTON CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

On Monday, all Wellington Catholic District School Board schools will remain open, and all before and after-school programs will remain open.

Should the strike continue past Monday, the school board said it anticipates all schools will pivot to online learning.

“If the strike were to continue past November 21, it is anticipated that we will not be able to maintain our CUPE-Staffed schools to the level required and we will need to move these schools (i.e., All Wellington Catholic DSB schools in Guelph, Erin, and Rockwood) to remote, online learning,” the school board said in an update.

Select schools, including St. John Bosco and Wellington Catholic DSB schools in Fergus, Arthur, Elora, and Mount Forest will not be impacted.

The full statement can be read here.

CONSEIL SCOLAIRE CATHOLIQUE MONAVENIR

In the event of a CUPE strike, synchronous distance learning will begin at schools in the Conseil scolaire Catholique MonAvenir school board.

All students will continue learning from home, including high-needs students.

Before and after school care will be cancelled.

"For preschool services (infants, toddlers and preschoolers), childcare services will be allowed to continue to operate," the school board said. "Childcare centres will contact parents directly if they decide not to provide service to preschool groups during the strike."

Conseil scolaire Catholique MonAvenir has schools throughout South-Central Ontario, from Collingwood to Peterborough through the GTA, Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo and Niagara Regions.