Teachers, students, and parents are getting ready for the reopening of schools this week following provincial orders mandating teachers to return to work. Schools across Alberta are set to resume classes on Wednesday after the Back to School Act was passed by the province, putting an end to a teachers’ strike that began in early October. This legislation compels teachers back to work by enforcing a collective agreement and utilizing the notwithstanding clause to protect it from legal challenges throughout the four-year deal.
Over 51,000 teachers, represented by the Alberta Teachers’ Association, went on strike on October 6, leading to the cancellation of classes for approximately 750,000 students across public, Catholic, and francophone schools. Both the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) and Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) have informed parents that they intend to reopen schools to students on Wednesday. The CCSD also mentioned that student teachers will return to schools during the week of November 3.
Various school boards, including those in Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Rocky View, Foothills, Grasslands, and Canadian Rockies, are planning to resume classes as scheduled on Wednesday. The province has made November diploma exams optional for Grade 12 students due to the strike. Alberta Teachers’ Association president Jason Schilling has urged the province to consider a similar decision for the exams scheduled in January, citing concerns from teachers about making up for lost time.
In an interview with The Homestretch’s Chris dela Torre, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides expressed his intention to decide in the coming days on whether Grade 12 diploma exams and provincial assessment tests for grades 6 and 9 students will still be mandatory. Nicolaides assured parents in a letter to the Edmonton Public School Board that plans are being put in place to support student success for the remainder of the academic year. The Parent Payment Program, initiated during the strike, will continue to accept applications until November 14, with the first payments scheduled for Friday.
While classes are scheduled to resume on Wednesday, the CBE cautioned parents that extracurricular activities may not immediately return to normal. The focus will be on teaching, potentially leading to delays, rescheduling, or cancellations of activities such as athletics, performances, field trips, and school events. School buses are expected to run on Wednesday, with parents advised to anticipate possible delays and not leave children unattended at bus stops.
Some parents, like Ashley Fowler in Rimbey, Alberta, have mixed feelings about the return to school, expressing both happiness for their children’s return to education and frustration over the circumstances that led to it. Others, like Rita Scalise with a child in Grade 12 at CCSCD, see the reopening of schools as a necessary step to address the lost time and ensure students’ educational progress.
