Saskatoon, Regina school divisions reveal lunch-hour plans for Thursday

School divisions in Saskatchewan’s two largest cities have come up with contingency plans in the wake of a move by the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation.

On Monday, the union announced that teachers will not provide lunch-hour supervision at schools across the province Thursday as its latest tactic in collective bargaining with the provincial government.

That will follow another set of rotating strikes on Wednesday.

By mid-afternoon Monday, school divisions had developed their strategies to address lunch hours.

Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools

In an update sent to parents, the division said its schools in Saskatoon, Martensville and Warman will be closed for the lunch break.

As well, the division’s schools are to move to a modified schedule during the day.

Elementary schools will feature regular learning in the morning before schools close at lunch — up to 30 minutes earlier than normal, the division said — and all students will be required to leave the schools and the grounds.

Buses will pick up students about 15 to 30 minutes before lunch to make sure they’re not left unsupervised. There won’t be end-of-day bus service.

Students will get learning packages through Edsby or handouts to work on in the afternoon.

“Students able to return to school are encouraged to do so for the afternoon,” the division said. “Teachers are available for help and support. Students unable to make it back to school will work from home on the material.”

Half-day kindergarten classes will be held as normal.

The division’s high schools have a shortened PD day. Students are to attend classes in the morning, but they’ll have to leave the school property at lunchtime.

Saskatoon Public Schools

​All elementary schools will be closed at lunch, although half-day prekindergarten and half-day kindergarten will be held as usual.

Before- and after-school programs located in the schools will operate as normal.

Students who are bused to school will be bused home at lunch unless families have made alternate arrangements.

Students can return to school after lunch for classes, but there won’t be busing available to get them back to school for the afternoon. There also won’t be after-school busing available to get them home.

Kids also can stay home for the afternoon; they’ll be provided with take-home learning materials to complete.

The division’s high schools will go to their regular shortened Thursday schedule.

Students at Aden Bowman, Estey, Mount Royal, Nutana and Walter Murray collegiates had a planned shortened schedule Thursday for staff meetings. Pupils at Bedford Road, Centennial, Evan Hardy, Marion M. Graham and Tommy Douglas collegiates will experience a shortened day Thursday.

Students can return to school in the afternoon, or they can choose to stay home for the afternoon and work on assigned materials.

Regina Catholic School Division

Classes on Thursday are to begin on time.

“End times for in-person learning will change for the majority of students,” the division said in a release without elaborating.

The division added that more information was to be shared Thursday afternoon by school principals.

Extracurricular activities were to proceed as planned.

Regina Public Schools

The school day is being shortened, with dismissal occurring at noon in elementary schools and 1 p.m. in high schools.

Elementary schools will have a regular start time, but all students must leave at noon. Teachers are to be available via email, Edsby or prearranged phone call from 2 p.m. to 3:25 p.m.

High schools will squeeze in five classes between 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., at which time students will have to leave the building. Students can reach teachers from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. via email, Edsby or prearranged phone call.

All field trips, band and bus charters are cancelled.

STF, minister go back and forth

During a Zoom call with reporters, union president Samantha Becotte said lunch-hour supervision is voluntary for teachers.

In some cases, families pay extra for lunch-hour supervision, but she noted it’s not part of the teachers’ legislated responsibilities under The Education Act.

“Ensuring student safety is a school division responsibility,” Becotte said. “School divisions create plans ensuring students are supervised, often relying on teachers to provide this service, but there is no requirement that the supervision is provided by teachers.”

Becotte said the union wants to negotiate a deal, but she said the government is sticking to its initial proposal.

“Government has provided us with a take-it-or-leave-it offer,” she said, “and after nine months of negotiations and conciliation and job action from teachers, they have not engaged in any negotiations and remain firm on that opening offer.”

Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill said the government is disappointed with the way things have played out.

“Every one of these announcements (from the union) has been disappointing because, really, for me, I know that it affects students and families at the end of the day, so it’s not where we’d like the situation to be,” he told reporters.

“We’d like to have a willing partner at the bargaining table, and so we were hopeful at some point that the union leadership decides to return to the bargaining table so we can actually have some productive discussion and get a deal done that’s really going to provide some predictability over the next several years.”

The teachers have asked that class size and complexity be part of the agreement, but the government maintains those topics are up to the school divisions. Cockrill also said the union is asking for too much of a salary bump with its current proposal.

“The reality is that what they’ve asked for is not a reasonable deal for the Saskatchewan taxpayers at all,” Cockrill said.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Gillian Massie and Roman Hayter