Alberta parents, schools brace for impact ahead of provincewide teachers’ strike

Fae Rad is swamped.

The education director at Scholars of Calgary Northwest, a tutoring centre, says its phones have been ringing off the hook and voice mails backed up.

The calls are from parents trying to make arrangements for their children ahead of a mass walkout next week by Alberta’s teachers.

“Usually in the regular week, I get about three calls on average,” Rad said Friday. “But since the strike’s been confirmed, that number increased to 10.

“Five calls on (one day) alone.”

Earlier this week, the Alberta Teachers’ Association announced its 51,000 members would be walking off the job Monday morning, after almost 90 per cent of those who voted rejected the province’s latest contract offer.

It follows a nasty dispute between the union and the provincial government.

The latest offer rejected by teachers included a 12 per cent pay hike over four years and a promise to hire 3,000 more instructors.

The two sides remain far apart, but the union said Friday they had resumed “exploratory conversations.”

Schools across the province are preparing to close their doors, and the government has readied an online home curriculum for students.

They’re also offering parents $30 per day for each student 12 and under to help with child care costs and tutoring.

The government said payments would be retroactive and cost between $15 million and $20 million per day.

Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said in an interview Thursday it’s not fair students — more than 700,000 students across public, separate and francophone schools — will bear the brunt of the walkout.

“That’s the primary reason why we put this tool kit together,” he said. “So that parents, if they are willing and able to, can support their child’s continued academic progression and learning.”

Most school boards, including those in Edmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray and Lethbridge, have sent notices telling families that — barring an 11th-hour deal — classes would be paused beginning Monday.

Field trips, extracurricular activities and sports would also be cancelled.

Rad said she and her six colleagues expect to be jam-packed.

Most parents want to book their children, mostly under 12, for tutoring in subjects they themselves can’t teach, like math, science and French — and they’re booking well ahead.

“They are looking for at least three weeks,” said Rad. “They want to make sure that they have a long-term plan, and three weeks of no school is a lot for each of these parents.”

Alberta teachers last went on strike in 2002. Ralph Klein’s government declared a public emergency and ordered the 21,000 teachers back to work after nearly three weeks.

Communities across the province also are planning to support families.

The City of Edmonton is hosting pop-up educational day camps at select tourist attractions.

Private businesses — from jungle gyms and roller rinks to science and aviation museums — are scheduling “strike camps.”

Students are also looking to do their part.

Calgary high school student Cali Witheridge-Kwan is one of the many offering babysitting if the strike goes ahead. Her first job is bright and early Monday.

“I come from like a family with a lot of young kids and I know how hard it can be if there’s not a parent at home,” the 17-year-old said.

Witheridge-Kwan is set to graduate this year and worries how a strike would impact getting her diploma.

“This (strike) could be a month,” she said. “And (teachers) are talking about squeezing in all these units in a month, which isn’t really what we would normally do. So it’s stressful.”

While it’s unknown exactly how long a strike could last, union president Jason Schilling says teachers recognize a strike could inconvenience parents but that they’re standing up for children.

“I’m hoping that (parents) are also putting pressure on government to do right by their children,” he said.

The union is also is looking into the government’s tool kits, he said. It’s concerned they might not meet students where they’re at.

“Some of them are talking about things that teachers would have taught the first week of September, and we’re in October,” Schilling said.

Rad said she hasn’t looked at the kits but isn’t holding her breath on their quality.

“It’s not going to help,” she said. “Parents cannot be teachers, so it doesn’t matter how many materials the government posts. It’s not going to work.”

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