Teacher job action in Saskatchewan this week will see extracurricular activities being pulled from schools across the province Thursday and Friday, potentially impacting HOOPLA, the provincial high school basketball championships taking place in Moose Jaw.
The Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association (SHSAA) responded to the announcement of the job action Monday, saying that the championship could be saved if the government and teacher bargaining committees can lift sanctions before 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
“If sanctions are not lifted, HOOPLA will be cancelled due to the lack of teacher involvement in the events and the constraints for schools and host sites in planning and preparing for the events,” the association said.
The association said that if teachers aren’t available to participate in SHSAA activities as coaches, officials and organizers, then the events can’t be held.
“It will be extremely disappointing if the two sides cannot come to an arrangement that will allow the sanctions to be lifted. Approximately 750 students plus coaches, managers and other team personnel would be impacted by the cancellation as will several other organizations and entities that are involved with SHSAA and the hosting of basketball playoffs. The negative economic impact will be vast.”
The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation announced Monday morning that there will be a provincewide strike on Wednesday, with provincewide sanctions withdrawing extracurriculars for Thursday and Friday.
“Extracurricular activities are an incredibly valuable part of the school experience for both students and teachers, but the education of children and youth is always our first priority,” STF president Samantha Becotte said.
“We can no longer watch the decline of our students’ learning environment while government ignores reality and refuses to make a commitment to predictable, sustainable funding for prekindergarten to Grade 12 education.”
The STF called on the government Thursday to “agree to binding arbitration to address the contentious issues of class size and complexity.”
Binding arbitration would involve a submission of the dispute to a neutral party, who would provide recommendations to the province and the union.
Within a few hours, the provincial government shut down the proposal.
“I think school boards understand their school communities best,” Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill said.
“I think school divisions want to find ways to support students and teachers, but they need to have the autonomy to do that in their local school communities.”
More to come…
— with Files from Global News’ Andrew Benson
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