All HCDSB secondary schools willopen in an adapted model with enhanced health and safety protocols in September, 2020.For the health and safety of our community, all schools and Board offices. The Toronto District School Board and several other GTA school boards have announced closures in the event of a strike by school support workers.If a new deal cannot be reached between the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the provincial government, thousands of workers will walk off the job starting Monday, Oct. 7.The Toronto District School Board says all schools will be closed for the duration of the strike.TDSB Director of Education, John Malloy made the announcement Thursday afternoon.“Our CUPE workers cover many, many different aspects to our board services and we felt that we required this decision in order for our students to be safe,” he said.Malloy said the decision was based on the board’s inability to ensure student safety in the absence of support staff.“We understand that this is very challenging for our families, we get the frustration and anger this may cause, and we certainly empathize, but at the end of the day safety is paramount and we could not ensure that for all students,” he added.The Toronto Catholic District School Board says it will also close its schools to “ensure the health and safety of our students and staff.” The board says third-party child care operators located in TCDSB schools will be permitted to remain open, however, operating hours will be adjusted to 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.The Peel District School Board also cited safety concerns saying “student safety cannot be ensured during a CUPE strike” and have asked parents not to send their children to school starting Monday next week in case of a strike.York Region District School Board, York Catholic District School Board and Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board will also be closing.The Halton District School Board says it intends to be open on Monday and the Halton Catholic School Board says they have not made a decision yet.Durham District School Board says they will make a decision about closures on Friday.CUPE members began a work-to-rule campaign on Sept. 30 after talks with the province broke down the previous day.On Wednesday, Laura Walton, President of CUPE’s Ontario School Board Council of Unions announced at Queens Park that full strike action would go into effect if a fair deal was not reached.The province and the union are expected to return to the bargaining table Friday.CUPE represents 55,000 school support workers including education assistants, custodial staff, clerical workers and early childhood educators.Contracts for Ontario’s public school teachers and education workers expired Aug. 31, and the major unions are in various stages of bargaining.The talks were prompted by the province’s order for school boards to start increasing class sizes. Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA), the union representing Catholic teachers, announced the rotating strikes will run at boards across the province throughout the week. All Schools and Board Offices Remain CLOSED. On the other side, union representatives have said the impasse is about not accepting cuts that will hurt students. On the other side, union representatives have said the impasse is about not accepting cuts that will hurt students. OECTA President Liz Stuart said the negotiations need to be about protecting the province’s education system.“Teachers and education workers across the province are united, and the public are firmly behind us.
"Students belong in class.
Everyone is saying we do not support the Ford government’s destructive agenda for publicly funded education, and everyone knows the solution is for the government to back away from their reckless cuts and come up with a real plan to reach a fair agreement.