Richmond School District management will be rolled out to fill in the recess supervision gaps left by teachers during the impending strike action.
The B.C. Teachers Federation filed a strike notice Wednesday and come the first day back to school on Tuesday, teachers will pull administrative tasks such as supervising on playgrounds, filling out forms, collecting data, meeting with principals or writing report cards.
For parents, one of the most concerning aspects of the action being taken by the teachers is the withdrawal of recess supervision, especially for kindergarten students and those new to a particular school.
But Richmond School District superintendent Monica Pamer said student safety won't be compromised, nor will their recess time due to the strike.
"District office staff, mostly from management positions, in various departments will be deployed everywhere we can to help out," Pamer said.
"Recess time will not be affected, nor will the supervision, I just don't see that happening. It's kind of an interesting experience for the staff, I think they might actually enjoy it."
It's not the first time district staff have been called into action to fill in for teachers, Pamer said. And although the district has a contingency for such action, she said they are taking things "one step at a time."
District school board chair Donna Sargent said staff have been working all summer on a plan to cope with the looming strike, fueled, according to teachers, by a lack of funding for services and uncompetitive wages.
In earlier contract talks, the Liberal government removed class-size and composition clauses from the teachers' contract. Last April, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that that was unconstitutional.
Removing class-size limits and guarantees of services to students with special needs, enabled the government to cut vast sums from the education budget, according to the BC Teachers' Federation.
"These funds have been illegally taken away from students, from teachers, and from the public education system," said Susan Lambert, president of the BC Teachers' Federation.
"Teachers are determined in this round of bargaining to regain these lost services, jobs, and resources to meet students' needs."
Lambert also noted that B.C. teachers' salaries have fallen far behind those of colleagues in other provinces and benefits have not been improved in more than 15 years.
Meanwhile, the provincial government has recently issued a press release, which states that enrolment for the 2011-12 school year has decreased by more than 57,000 students since 2000-01.
Estimated operating funding to school districts is a record $4.72 billion this year - a $58 million increase over 2010-11.
However, critics note that costs in general have gone up during that 10 year period, and this year's increase will be used, in part, to implement the expansion of full-day kindergarten.
Sargent said the district, as promised earlier in the summer, will communicate the changes and provide updates to the parents on their website and in school newsletters as frequently as possible.
There's little doubt in Sargent's mind that the pulling of some roles by the teachers will have an immediate impact.
"Teachers do a lot of things in our schools and this will have an effect," she said.
"But it's definitely going to be a time where we have to respect what's happening at the provincial bargaining table."
Although negotiations began in March and the teachers' collective agreement expired in June, no progress in bargaining has been made between the teachers and the province.
The teachers' federation served their "phase one" strike notice this week, saying the government would not come back to the negotiating table.
Phase two of any strike may escalate to targeted and then full labour action.
Richmond Teachers Association president Al Klassen said he does anticipate phase one having an effect, especially if management are out supervising playgrounds.
"If they're out at the schools for recess, they're not doing their own work, are they?" he said.
However, Klassen believes, in the early days of the strike at least, only the parents who are involved with the school on a daily basis might notice the effect.
"If you're on the PAC, for example, you will notice that the teachers won't be collecting money. People like that will notice straight away," Klassen said.
"Teachers are pushing the point that they're supposed to be teaching when they're at school."
Unless something changes in the government's attitude, Klassen sees the dispute running for weeks and months, rather than days.
"This government can be pretty hard-nosed," he said. "That's unfortunate.
"When it comes to their own priorities, they have the money. But they will not be moved off the line."
