The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation issued a 48-hour notice on Feb. 5, announcing a province-wide withdrawal of noon hour student supervision that will take place this Thursday, Feb. 8.
The withdrawal of noon-hour supervision means teachers will not be available to supervise students who are eating lunch at school or taking part in noon-hour activities. Teachers will leave the building during each school’s designated lunch break period.
Although teachers often provide lunch break supervision, it is done on a voluntary basis. According to the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF) release, the responsibility to provide the necessary level of supervision to ensure student safety is held by school divisions under The Education Act, 1995.
School divisions will make parents and caregivers aware of any operational or schedule changes due to Thursday’s job action.
“A decade of government funding cuts has meant parents in several school divisions are forced to pay out-of-pocket fees of $100 or more for their kids to stay at school over the noon hour,” Samantha Becotte, the STF president, said in Monday's release.
“School boards face the impossible task of balancing government funding shortfalls and the rising costs of services that students need. Students and families are caught in the middle, and I encourage every parent and caregiver in the province to let our government officials know how they feel about that.”
The province-wide noon hour supervision action is an addition to the next round of rotating full-day strikes by the STF, which is at an increasingly bitter impasse with provincial negotiators over the inclusion of classroom environment considerations in a new collective agreement.
The latest strikes will take place Wednesday, Feb. 7 and affect the following areas and teachers' associations:
- Creighton Teachers’ Association
- Creighton School Division
- Northern Area Teachers’ Association
- Northern Lights School Division
- Prairie Spirit Teachers’ Association
- Prairie Spirit School Division
- Saskatoon Teachers’ Association
- Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools
- Saskatoon Public Schools
Strike action includes Conseil des écoles fransaskoises schools and Saskatchewan Distance Learning Centre teachers who work at a school or regional campus within the geographic boundaries of the public school divisions listed above. This includes ÉCF Pavillon Gustave Dubois, ÉCF Pavillon Monique Rousseau, École Providence, DLC Far North Campus in La Ronge and DLC Central Campus in Saskatoon. The job action involves approximately 4,300 teachers and will affect classes for approximately 65,300 students.
