School District 27 Superintendent Mark Thiessen confirmed Wednesday pickets will be up and teachers will be withdrawing services in the Cariboo-Chilcotin Tuesday.
Thiessen issued a parent information bulletin May 21, stating he will be directing buses not to run during the one-day strike and is urging parents to keep their children home.
“While schools will continue to be open and principals and vice principals will be present, there will be no instruction,” Thiessen stated. “For safety reasons I ask that parents keep all children home from classes on Tuesday, May 27.”
Also, no programs will be running in the district including StrongStart, daycares or use by community user groups.
Thiessen said he will continue to send out more information to parents as the situation evolves, such as in the event the strike continues past next week.
In response to the job action, the Sam Ketcham Pool is making some changes to its program schedules by adding a morning recreation swim from 9 a.m. to noon and an afternoon toonie swim from 1 p.m. until 2:30 p.m.
Tae Kwon Do scheduled at Nesika Elementary from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. has been cancelled, as well as the Rec and Roll after school care at Marie Sharpe Elementary. Aqua Fit will run from 12 to 12:45 on Tuesday.
The labour dispute between the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and B.C. Public School Employers’ Association has heated up this week, with the government formalizing their plan to cut teacher pay for strike action with a stop-work order that takes effect 45 minutes before and after school hours and during lunch and recess breaks.