Walkout would close Ottawa's public elementary schools

All English public elementary schools in Ottawa will close if elementary and occasional teachers unions hold a one-day walkout across Ontario, according to the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.

Trustees and board staff held a "strike management meeting" Friday where they crafted a contingency plan that includes closing schools and extended-day programs if members of the Ottawa-Carleton Elementary Teachers' Federation and the Ottawa-Carleton Elementary Occasional Teachers' Association walk off the job.

Both unions are now in a legal strike position and the work-to-rule campaign is set to begin Monday.

The elementary teachers union informed school boards across the province earlier this week they would provide a 72-hour warning of any job action that involves in-class activities.

There is currently a "partial withdrawal" of out-of-class work that will continue, the board said, which includes administrative and non-instructional duties such as extracurricular activities, field trips, meetings, professional development, provincial assessments and any activities outside of the regular school day.

High school teachers, as well as administrative and support staff, are also in a legal strike position and they are not performing similar duties to the elementary teachers union.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation has tentatively agreed to a deal with the public school board, but members have yet to ratify the deal.

Some schools have already cancelled field trips, holiday concerts and other extracurricular activities as a result of pending job action in December.

Ontario Education Minister Laurel Broten reminded the province’s teachers on Thursday her government has the legislative "tools" to impose a labour agreement if elementary teachers proceed with plans to strike.

The school board also said before- and after-school programs delivered by third-party service providers could be affected by the walkout.