B.C. teachers' strike: Surrey limits summer school to 50 students
CBC News | Posted: July 3, 2014 7:38 PM | Last Updated: July 4, 2014
School districts across B.C. are cancelling or limiting summer school
Only about 50 of the 11,000 students in the Surrey who registered for summer school will be eligible to attend during the B.C. teachers' strike, the district announced on Thursday morning.
- MORE | B.C. teachers' strike: 2nd potential mediator refuses job
- Summer school cancellations adding up
Last week, B.C.'s Labour Relations Board ruled schools must have summer classes during the strike for students in grades 10 to 12 who failed a course required for graduation that cannot be retaken next year.
The district said after carefully examining which students fit the criteria, they were left with a handful of students, who will be notified directly.
The courses will be taught by principals and vice principals at Queen Elizabeth Secondary School.
"We regret that we cannot offer our full range of Summer Learning programs but the fact remains that the teacher strike continues to limit our ability to provide a full range of services at this time," said a statement issued by the district.
"As always, we live in hope that there will be a resolution at the bargaining table."
Other districts cancel summer school
Wednesday afternoon the Vancouver school board chair Patti Bacchus said she didn't believe there were any students in that district who wouldn't have the option of making up classes in the fall because Vancouver offers a wide range of choices.
The Vancouver board also said since the teachers are still picketing, unionized staff would not cross those lines, leaving the district unable to provide adequate instruction or student supervision.
The list of school districts that have cancelled summer school now includes:
- Abbotsford
- Burnaby
- Campbell River
- Chilliwack
- Coquitlam
- Delta
- Kamloops
- Langley
- Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows
- North Vancouver
- Prince George
- Surrey (partial closure)
- Vancouver
- Greater Victoria
- Williams Lake
West Vancouver's school district also indicated last week that summer school would be cancelled if the teachers' strike hadn't ended.
More than 41,000 teachers across the province went on a full strike on June 17, indefinitely cancelling classes for more than half a million public school students.
Negotiations between the B.C. Teachers' Federation and the government reached another standstill on Wednesday when a second mediator refused to take on the job of helping to settle the dispute.
The Labour Relations Board has also ruled schools that operate on a year-round schedule cannot be picketed by teachers and will go ahead as planned.