Students will feel impact of teachers’ strike

NEWS/  SCHOOLS — Field trips and other school events planned for next Wednesday when a rotating teachers’ strike hits Kamloops are not likely to be taken on solely by parents.

As the labour dispute escalates between the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and B.C. Public School Employers Association, it’s students who will feel the impact, said School District 73 assistant superintendent. Karl deBruijn.

“When teachers are out on strike, we can’t sanction a field trip. Any trip the school district has sanctioned is contingent upon teachers being there,” he said.

“There’s no way teachers can take action without it having an impact on the children.”

DeBruijn didn’t speak to specific school events planned for Wednesday, but Kamloops A.M. News has heard students at one school were slated to go on a camping trip that day.

The district honours reception is still going ahead Wednesday, despite the strike.

“It’s already organized and held in the evening off school district property. Teachers won’t be able to attend because they’re on strike that day, but we as administrators and parents will continue on,” deBruijn said.

About 50 to 60 students are involved with the honours event.

While some parents might want to continue with field trips or other events themselves, they should consider that they face liability for children other than their own if they do so, he said.

“I’d caution them that it’s one thing you can be responsible for your own children, but it’s different when there are other children.”

If the strike continues into dates for scheduled provincial exams, teachers won’t be available to do the marking. However, deBruijn said, many administrators are former teachers and would step up.

More critical to him than the cancelled field trips or other events is the less-tangible effect of the strike: the loss of trust.

“We value the relationships we build between principals and teachers, and parents and teachers, and parents and principals, and above all the children. And these take a hit every time we have one of these job actions,” he said.

“Trust gets damaged. Everybody works hard to insulate the children from it, but there is discord that kids feel among the adults around them. That’s the part that worries me the most.”

The school district has no control over the strike at the local level, but has to deal with the actions and consequences as they roll out, he said.

“We have to just wait and see. We have no control over it at the local level, we just have to be responsible. We’ll keep parents informed, and try to minimize the impact on students.”