The idea of back to school is a cheerful not yet stressful mantra for most parents and the last week of August feels like a dream when school is scheduled to start.
Barrhead-area school-age parents were asked by Town and Country on Facebook last week if they are making any plans in case there is a teacher strike.
“No, but should I be,” said one parent, with others echoing the thought.
“One of mine had the hardest time during COVID because of the school opening and closing. This is going to be a nightmare for some families,” said another parent.
Right now, parents are thinking about whether they have all the right school supplies and what clothes are going to fit for this year.
Their focus is child-centric matters like whether their kids are going to get a spot on the soccer team with their friends.
Parents admit that they had seen the headlines about the Alberta Teacher’s Association (ATA) and the provincial government’s ongoing negotiations, but it all seems like that happened months ago.
Parent responses indicated that it had not quite clicked that the 90-day timeline after the 95 per cent vote to strike would fall around the start of school.
A 72-hour notice will have to be given but that is not a lot of time for parents to plan.
If the teachers strike that means schools will be closed and online resources might not be available.
Pembina Hills School Division will communicate with parents as soon as they have any information on what is happening.
What should parents be thinking about?
First, they might want to talk to other family members, friends or their circle of parents to plan for childcare coverage.
Parents might need to use vacation time from work, investigate work from home options or stagger work schedules, with the cooperation of their employers.
Second parents might want to think about an education plan for the kids if the strike happens.
The ATA website recommends keeping children learning. Without online learning tools that could mean offline, paper-and-pencil type, activities.
There is also the social aspect of school, and another option is connecting with other parents to plan group activities or projects. A strike might happen, but with planning parents would not just be spectators to the strike actions but would be prepared.
Parents can find Alberta grade curricula, also known as ‘Programs of Study’, on the Alberta.ca website and the new.LearnAlberta.ca platform.
Here are some primary sources for information on what students are expected to learn in each subject from kindergarten to Grade 12.
https://www.learnalberta.ca/ProgramsOfStudy.aspx?lang=en
https://curriculum.learnalberta.ca/home/en
