Day care centres filling up for strike day

In this file photo, teacher’s rallied on Nov. 12th outside the Hastings and Prince Edward School Board.

By Taylor Renkema

Local day care centres are filling up as parents scramble to deal with the one-day legal strike coming from elementary school teachers.

Public elementary schools in Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board, including Park Dale Public School, Prince of Wales Public School and Prince Charles Public School, will be closed on Wednesday for the strike, which starts at 9a.m.

A rally will be held starting at the school board building on Tuesday, Dec. 11 from 4p.m.-6p.m. to raise awareness about why the teachers are protesting.

Karen Fisk, President of the local Elementary Teachers Foundation of Ontario said their message is simple.

“We have not been able to achieve collective agreements with our employers because of Bill 1-15 that was brought on by the government.

Debbie Milne, executive director of First Adventure Child Development Centre, said they’re getting a lot of phone calls from parents looking to find a place to send their children on Wednesday.

Milne said the problem is they only have so much room.

“You have to remember we are licensed for a certain number and have resources for a certain number,” she said.

Susan Hardacre, executive director at Catundra Day Care Centre, said she’s facing the same problem.

“We won’t got over our license capacity so we can only take two more [children],” Hardacre said.

The teachers are protesting Bill 1-15, which allows the government to impose a two-year contract on teachers. That contract includes a two-year wage freeze, reduces teacher’s sick days to 10 from 20, and prohibits teachers’ ability to bank any unused sick days.

Most controversially, the bill gives Education Minister Laurel Broten the power to end a strike or lockout by the teachers without going to the provincial legislature for debate.

Rob McGall, director of education with the HPEDSB, said he expects schools to be back open Thursday. He said parents are asked not to send their children to school Wednesday.

McGall clarified the strike does not apply to secondary schools or Catholic schools.

He said he hopes the impact on parents is minimal.

“We hope that parents will be patient and understanding as we work through this legal strike with our elementary teachers,” he said.

The school board received official written notification of the strike from the Elementary Teacher’s Board Union on Friday, Dec. 7, and used a variety of tools to notify parents.

“As of Friday afternoon we have updated our board website, we have used our electronic voice messaging system to make calls to all the homes of our elementary school students,” said McGall. “Today elementary school parents will receive a letter and we’re also using the media.”

With files from Marc Venema and Keenan Weaver.