Lost money, learning and fun: Students struggle with thought of prolonged teachers’ strike

Alberta teachers are set to strike starting Monday, impacting Calgary students. Mark Villani reports.

As Alberta braces for its first provincewide teachers’ strike in more than two decades, families and students are grappling with uncertainty over classes, childcare, cancelled trips and lost sports seasons.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) announced job action will begin Monday after rejecting the latest offer from the Teacher Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA).

The ATA confirmed Friday that both sides are talking, but that strike action has not been averted.

More than 730,000 students across the province will be affected.

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Finance Minister Nate Horner’s office said Friday that the government’s bargaining team remains ready to return to negotiations.

“The Teacher Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) is ready, willing and able to get back to the table to come to a fair deal for our teachers at any time, once the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) has consulted with their members on a reasonable deal,” read the statement to CTV News.

“The onus is on ATA leadership to determine what supports teachers are actually looking for. TEBA has submitted a formal letter to the ATA asking them to come back to the table with creative solutions. We are waiting for the ATA’s response. Our goal is always to keep our kids in school.”

With no deal in sight, the focus has shifted to the strike’s immediate impact on families.

Students worry about setbacks to learning and extracurriculars

At Calgary’s Sir Winston Churchill High School, Grade 11 student Sara Murphy said the disruption comes at a critical time in her education.

“I feel like this ruins the process of my learning and also submitting grades for grade 12 for early entry,” Murphy said. “It’s just going to negatively affect me.”

She said the possibility of catching up on missed lessons after a prolonged strike adds to her anxiety.

“I feel like it’s going to be stressful, especially with extra workloads and missing out on out of school extra curriculars, It’s just all going to be loaded onto us when we get back along with the teachers as well so it’s just not fair at all.”

Her classmate Ariana Rudy, also in Grade 11, echoed those concerns.

She plays on the school’s volleyball team and is enrolled in the international baccalaureate (IB) program.

“So now our whole season is over. All of our games will be canceled if it goes on for too long,” Rudy said.

“I’m also an IB student, so I will not be able to learn all the information for my IB exams in April. So, I know me and a lot of my classmates are really stressed out about all of that, and we honestly don’t know what we’re going to do.”

Rudy added that the uncertainty has left many of her peers divided in how they view the strike.

“Some people are really happy because they see it as, like, another summer break,” she said.

“But I know a lot of the Grade 12 students especially are really stressed out with diploma exams coming up.”

Cancelled trips, lost money and refund frustration

The Calgary Board of Education confirmed that seven schools have cancelled out-of-province trips scheduled between Oct. 2 and 10, affecting approximately 175 students.

“CBE senior leaders have made the decision to cancel these trips. The expected ATA strike next week would disrupt/interrupt the trip and limit the CBE’s ability to provide sufficient staffing and supervision to ensure student safety,” the board said in a statement.

The board said it has submitted an insurance claim and “expects to be able to refund families the majority of the costs they have paid.”

For Calgary father Wiley Wang, the uncertainty over refunds has added to the disappointment of his daughter’s cancelled Grade 9 French immersion trip to Quebec.

“Each student paid $2,805 and with so many students going on this trip the total money is over $105,000 paid. We were informed by school of the cancelation of the strike, but what about the money?”

“Initially the school said lots of those monies are non-refundable, and even today, we are not sure how much money will be refunded.”

Wang said several families have been left in the dark.

“There is a letter forwarded by the school principal to us, but the letter is very vague,” he said.

“They’re saying, ‘Okay, we will try to maybe reimburse you up to 75 per cent but there is lots of money that’s non-refundable.’

“So there is no commitment from the board of education regarding how much money will be refunded.”

While he said he understands some expenses like airfare may be lost, Wang believes the financial burden should not fall on parents.

“It’s unfair. It’s not the parents’ action. We didn’t do anything to cause this, and so it’s unfair to put the financial strain on families,” he said.

“We just want the Board of Education to treat everyone fairly. There are lots of families under stress now and this money is not a small number.”

Sports seasons cut short and recruitment worries

The Calgary High School Athletic Association announced this week that all extracurricular activities, including football, will be suspended in October if the strike proceeds.

Grade 12 student and football player with Sir Winston Churchill High School, Tyson Carroll, said the news means his high school career may already be over.

“I’ve probably played my last high school game of my career, and that’s unfortunate,” Carroll said.

“But what it really comes down to is we have to support our teachers, because they are the backbone of our sports and our athletics. I don’t know what we’d do without them, they do so much for us as athletes and for us as people. Those are my role models. Those are my coaches.”

Carroll said however that the cancellation has cut his season — and his opportunities for recruitment — in half.

“There goes half of my season, so there goes half of my highlights,” he said.

“A lot of players, improve throughout the season, you make adjustments, so calling it early is really detrimental because that’s how you ramp up in football.”

Still, he said his priority is standing in solidarity with his teachers.

“I want my season back. I want to spend my time with my coaches, take my reps, and honestly, have my team back,” Carroll said.

“But more importantly, I want my coaches to be supported properly and honestly, respected more.”

University of Calgary Dinos head coach Ryan Sheahan said the strike poses challenges for both players and recruiters.

“You know, it’s an unfortunate turn of events, but my advice to any of them is to always be in a state of readiness, because you just never know what’s going to happen,” Sheahan said.

“Let’s say that there’s a resolution quickly and the season could resume, or maybe they pull it together in time for one or two weeks from now, right in time for playoff mode.”

Sheahan said his staff has been tracking high school players for months but acknowledged the lost opportunities will sting.

“Every opportunity that Grade 10, 11, 12 students have to step onto the field and showcase their skills, or go to a combine event or a skills camp, I think is uber important,” he said.

“We’ve been at the first six weeks of play, so they’ve been putting great things on film. If there is a hiatus in football, they should focus on their highlights, continue to train, stay active, keep moving, so that when hopefully the season resume, we’re going to get to see those players complete their senior seasons.”

Parents scrambling for childcare solutions

For working parents, the strike is also creating new challenges around childcare.

Delowar Hossain, whose five-year-old daughter is in kindergarten, said the strike will shorten the hours of before- and after-school care at her school.

“Before it was 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. pickups so now I have to have her a little bit late and pick up a little bit early,” Hossain said.

“Especially picking up, it will be very difficult for me because I work until 5 p.m. and I don’t know what will happen in this situation.”

He said he hopes his employer will allow him to leave work early but described the situation as “very stressful.”

“We just don’t want this type of situation as well because when there will be no school, there will be no learning for her and we want it resolved as soon as possible.”

Hossain, who immigrated to Canada from Bangladesh, said he never imagined seeing a teachers’ strike in this country.

“Canada is a very peaceful and very educated country, so we want an agreement as soon as possible and I want to see my kids every day go to school, to learn, and to explore.”

Rallies planned across the province

The ATA confirmed teachers will begin job action on Monday, Oct. 6.

ATA president Jason Schilling will mark the first day of the strike with a media availability at 11 a.m. at Barnett House in Edmonton.

Public rallies are also planned.

On Sunday, Oct. 5 — World Teachers’ Day — teachers and supporters will gather at the Alberta legislature in Edmonton at 11:30 a.m. and at Calgary’s McDougall Centre at 3 p.m.

Another rally will take place in Medicine Hat on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at Kin Coulee Band Shelter.

The ATA described the rallies as part of a historic moment.

“We stand with teachers as they stand up for students; as they stand up for our public education system,” the association said in a release.

“Because public education is an essential public good and it’s worth every ounce of fight we have in us.”