Teacher job action: message from the Superintendant of Schools

To: Surrey School District community

Re: Teacher Job Action

As you are likely aware, the BC Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) and its local Surrey Teachers’ Association have served notice of a first phase of job action in connection with provincial contract negotiations. Please be aware that all schools are open as usual and there will not be any pickets.

During the announced Phase One of job action, teachers in Surrey and throughout BC are withdrawing from administrative meetings and related tasks. In addition, in terms of direct student impact, teachers will not be preparing or distributing report cards, except Grade 12 marks required for graduation, post-secondary applications or scholarship purposes. The Surrey School District is committed to ensuring that our schools are safe and students are adequately supervised. During this job action, managers and other non-union staff will be performing many supervision duties (before and after school and at recess). In these circumstances, it will be most helpful if you are able to drop off and pick-up your children as close to the beginning and end of the school day as possible.

The district will inform parents through school newsletters and websites as well as on the district website at www.sd36.bc.ca of any changes or developments in the job action status, particularly as those changes may relate to any direct impact on students. For information regarding the key issues in the current contract dispute, you may wish to visit the BC Public School Employers Association (BCPSEA) website at www.bcpsea.bc.ca.

Finally, it is important to emphasize that the Surrey School District acknowledges that our teachers are participating in legal job action. We appreciate that these situations can be difficult to manage but we are committed to making every reasonable effort to continue to support student learning. Mike McKay Superintendent of Schools/CEO