Despite the province's elementary school teachers ramping up job action today, there will still be minimal impact on students.
Ron Rivait is president of the Lambton-Kent Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, which represents the almost 1,000 or so public school teachers in the region. He says the big question was whether transition meetings would continue.
"We're going to continue to ensure that there is some dialogue and that any students that have any special needs, any special ed students, that those programs will be going forward, as always, for those students," says Rivait. Transition meetings involve Grade 8 and Grade 9 teachers discussing the best way to help the incoming class be successful.
Rivait says the union is holding true to its word that all class trips and extra curriculars will continue through the end of this school year. He adds that the union has told teachers not to plan class trips for the new school year in September should a deal not be reached by the start of the 2015-16 campaign, while extra curriculars haven't been discussed as a part of that job action. Teachers have been working without a collective agreement for nine months.