Newmarket parents whose children attend York Region District School Board's elementary schools, as well those with children at a York Catholic District School Board school, will be coping with school closures next week as Ontario's teachers continue their battle for a new contract with the province.
The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario — the largest teachers' union in the province — is holding one-day strikes in York Region, Toronto and Ottawa-Carleton on Monday, Jan. 20.
YRDSB has confirmed it will close elementary schools Monday, and parents are advised not to send children to school. Daycares at schools are expected to operate normally, however, parents should confirm with the daycare provider.
York's high schools, which have faced previous closures due to the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation's one-day strikes, will be open Jan. 20 and are not impacted by the EFTO one-day strike.
All York Region's Catholic schools will close Tuesday, Jan. 21 for a one-day strike by the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA).
School-based child care centres, before and after school programs and Early ON centres will continue to operate.
EFTO, which represents 83,000 teachers and educational workers, announced today it's taking further job action next week, with no new talks scheduled with Premier Doug Ford's government, and will expand rotating strikes to Thames Valley, Rainbow and Rainy River school boards Wednesday.
On Tuesday, elementary teachers in Grand Erie, Trillium Lakelands, Renfrew, and Superior-Greenstone school boards will hit the picket line.
"The government has given no response and made no commitment to return to bargaining talks in 28 days. We are urging the minister to get back to the table and discuss the critical issues that parents and educators care about," EFTO president Sam Hammond said in a news release Friday.
All four major teachers' unions are now engaged in legal job actions. The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association and Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario have all been working without a contract since Aug. 31.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce has continually responded that parents are frustrated by the teachers unions' job actions.
Earlier in the week, the province announced a child care compensation program for parents affected by the one-day strikes, and by early Friday, nearly 78,000 had signed up for the funding.
"The immense uptake of our Support for Parents Initiative speaks volumes to the level of uncertainty union-led strike action causes," Leece said in a news release. "It is unacceptable that ETFO would ramp up strike action and make families across the province scramble for child care."
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