Parents frustrated with Edmonton school board as strike looms

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Parents are frustrated with Edmonton Public Schools despite the board’s success in narrowly delaying a strike that would see more than 3,000 educational assistants and support staff walk off the job Thursday.

Colleen Tatum, a parent to three special needs children, said she is in favour of CUPE workers going on strike since they are not getting the wages they deserve. As a parent, she said there have been many instances where her children have been forced to stay home due to a lack of aid in the classroom.

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“The strike is a symptom of a larger issue of a chronically underfunded education system — where especially disabled kids are routinely being denied education at all,” Tatum said. “There are kids that are still waiting for a full-entry time from September because the schools do not have support staff for them and then that trickles down to lack of support in the classroom as a whole.”

CUPE local 3550 served strike notice to Edmonton Public Schools on Friday but on Tuesday the school board’s application for a dispute inquiry board (DIB) was approved by the province which means both CUPE local 3550 and the board are forced back to the bargaining table.

Part of the school board’s contingency plan, if workers were to strike, is for students who require an educational assistant to remain at home. Tatum said it is “nearly impossible” for parents to accommodate the plan unless the school was sending someone to the homes to assist with their children’s needs or force parents to stay home from work.

Impacts all parents

Andrea Iliac, a parent with two children at Edmonton Public Schools, previously had an educational assistant for her daughter in kindergarten to help with her speech impediment. While it has been nearly three years since Iliac’s daughter has needed assistance, she said the approval of the DIB was unfair to CUPE members.

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“I know a lot of people who are affected by it, even in a sense I am too because if the kids that need the EAs are not getting the help they need, then all the other kids are falling behind because the teachers cannot give them that attention that they need if they’re giving attention to the kids that need the personal EAs,” Iliac said, adding that without educational assistants and support staff, teachers will have less capacity to help students if they have to balance all aspects of the classroom.

“I find all parents are affected by it in a way.”

Potential strike if DIB is unsuccessful

Edmonton Public Schools superintendent Darrel Robertson said the school board applied for DIB on Monday and said the intention was to provide an opportunity to return to the bargaining table to find solutions with a third party. In a letter to parents and families on Tuesday following the approval of the DIB, Robertson said the board remains “committed to reaching an agreement with CUPE local 3550.

“We value the incredible work that support staff do every day in schools, classrooms, and central offices. We are hopeful that the DIB process will be helpful in resolving the outstanding issues and reaching an agreement that avoids any disruption to learning,” Robertson said.

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But even with the intervention of DIB, that does not guarantee that CUPE local 3550 will not strike if mediation is unsuccessful.

If a deal cannot be reached with the intervention of DIB, the board will make a recommendation for settlement to Jobs, Economy and Trade Minister Matt Jones. Both parties will then have 10 days to notify the minister whether or not they have accepted.

In the event that either one or both of the parties does not accept the recommendation, the labour relations board will conduct a vote of the party that did not accept. If the recommendation is rejected again, workers can again declare a strike with 72-hour notice.

In a Wednesday news release, Alberta Teacher’s Association president Jason Schilling said they stood in solidarity with CUPE locals.

“We recognize their dedication and the critical role they play in fostering safe and supportive learning environments for our students,” Schilling said.

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