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Frustrated public school board pens letter to parents By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Despite strong wording against the provincial government in a letter to parents, Halton District School Board Chair Amy Collard says trustees are not taking sides in the labour dispute between teachers and the Province. Instead, she said, the letter is meant to show another side of the labour situation -- the board's perspective. The letter was sent out near the end of the workday Wednesday on behalf of the board of trustees. It begins: "The Trustees of the Halton District School Board wish to publicly express their disappointment and dissatisfaction with the way in which this latest round of labour negotiations has been managed by the Ontario government." Collard agreed the wording is strong. "We realize it might come out strong and I may get some calls over this, but we really are trying to catch the attention of people that there's more to this than perhaps they've seen in the paper or heard on the news or even heard from the mouths of the union leaders and the mouths cancelled extracurricular activities and did not do certain administrative tasks. The elementary teachers' unions held rotating strikes, forcing school boards to close schools for one day. Most recently, teachers threatened to protest, forcing many boards to close elementary schools. The protest was cancelled in the wake of an Ontario Labour Board ruling. "We want parents to understand why we wrote letters to ask for Bill 115 to be repealed and why we wrote letters to ask for regulation 274/12 to be repealed. It's because we actually believe they're not in the best interest of students," Collard said. Regulation 274/12 changes the way boards hire teachers. To hire fulltime permanent teachers, boards have to select applicants from a roster of their occasional teachers, based on seniority. The letter adds the bill takes away the board's ability to negotiate local terms with teachers' unions and that the majority of the school boards in Ontario have not been involved in the most recent contract negotiations. "Most recently the ministry negotiated with CUPE (Canadian Union of Public Employees) and our board was not even aware that the negotiations were taking place," the letter says. The letter also mentions the trustees' hope teachers will refrain from further action that negatively impacts students. "We really don't take sides. We just want what's best for students and we felt the students were being left out of the conversation," Collard said. The format for negotiations was set by the government, so the situation falls on the Province's shoulders, Collard said, adding regrettable decisions have been made by all parties. The board also worries about the financial implications of Bill 115. 5 · Friday, January 18, 2013 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com "To our understanding, the legislation that has been imposed will probably cost us more money in the long run. The whole purpose of Bill 115, from our understanding, was to curb expenses," she said. She said the reform to sick day benefits could cost the board more. Teachers had 20 sick days per year and now have 10. However, after 10 days, a shortterm disability plan kicks in, which is paid for by the board. It is unknown how much this will cost. -- See Halton District School Board Jan. 16, 2013 letter to parents, page 6 Amy Collard of the ministry. We want them to understand there's another perspective. We are the employer and we were not party to this," she said. The letter refers to the handling of contract negotiations between the Ministry of Education and teacher and education support worker unions and the use of the Province's Bill 115. 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