Sask. teachers to pause extracurriculars for full week heading into Easter break

Saskatchewan teachers’ job action will continue next week with a provincewide four day pause of extracurricular activities heading into the Easter break for students.

Noon-hour supervision will also be pulled on Monday (March 25) by six local teachers’ associations, the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation (STF) said in a news release Friday.

“For weeks we have made it clear that job action would escalate if government continued its refusal to negotiate or agree to binding arbitration on class size and complexity – the issue that is most important to teachers,” STF president Samantha Becotte said in the release.

As Becotte made the announcement and fielded questions from reporters, the province sent out a statement from Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill.

Cockrill said he was "extremely disappointed" by the STF's announcement Friday, adding a comment he previously made on a radio talk show program.

"Not only have we moved on many of the items that the STF has asked for, but we are also prepared to create an accountability framework connected to the historic multi-year funding agreement," Cockrill said.

"While it was heartening to see teachers, students and parents work together to ensure some activities continued despite the STF’s sanctions, we want to ensure students aren’t negatively impacted any further."

On March 8, the province announced a four-year agreement with the Saskatchewan School Boards Association to address classroom supports including class size and complexity.

The agreement will provide a minimum of $356.6 million each year for four years for classroom supports and an investment into youth mental health resources, but the STF has always maintained without those supports in the contract, there's nothing to hold the province accountable if they choose to claw back funding in future years.

The timing of Cockrill's statement seemed to catch Becotte off-guard.

"This is new. I did not hear this yesterday. Sorry. So I apologize," Becotte said as she looked at her screen to read the statement.

"But this is a step forward. That is part of what we're seeking, but we want to ensure that teachers are part of that process."

Cockrill said he would have more to say next week on how the province is working to ensure students get the opportunities they deserve, including graduation.

With only a few months remaining in the school year, students and parents are becoming worried more events, sports, field trips and activities will be cancelled because of teacher job action.

"I am sorry that we have come to this point teachers have been working very hard to avoid any sanction action," Becotte said. "We are working very hard and doing everything that we can to avoid further disruption to those extra opportunities as well as their learning."

With liability implications and limitations on what parents and students can do outside of schools to plan and organize activities, Becotte understands they might get creative to ensure these activities go on.

"If parents are taking on some of those volunteering opportunities, there's nothing that teachers would do to stop that," Becotte said.

Teachers staged a provicewide daylong strike on Wednesday when the province revealed its budget, with thousands showing up at the Saskatchewan Legislative building to protest while others picketed at various sites around Saskatchewan.

Becotte was in Regina for Wednesday's provincial budget announcement, which provided an opportunity to meet with Cockrill. She says he agreed to meet with them and some progress was made to get both parties back to the bargaining table.

"We are cautiously optimistic that we can find a resolution relatively quickly," she said.

Teachers also paused extracurricular activities for Thursday and Friday this week which resulted in the cancellation of the province’s high school provincial basketball championship Hoopla, and the early end to a large band festival in Regina.

Saskatchewan unveiled what it called a record education budget on Wednesday, with $3.3 billion set aside for the Ministry of Education for the upcoming fiscal year.

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The province said of that amount, $2.2 billion will be provided to school divisions across Saskatchewan.

Specifically set aside for classroom supports will be $356.6 million, according to the province.

The STF however wants per student funding to be improved, with Becotte saying Saskatchewan continues to slip in that department compared to other provinces. 

"In the end of it, we know that this year we are eighth in the country for per-student funding and likely we are going to be moving down in the ranking," Becotte said on Wednesday. 

The federation is also still asking that classroom size and complexity be brought to the bargaining table. The province is adamant those topics don’t belong there.

The two sides also have opposite opinions on bringing in a third party arbitrator, with the province declining to agree to that option at this time.

Saskatchewan’s teachers have been without a contract since August of 2023. The two sides began bargaining in May of 2023, however it’s not believed the two sides have sat down to negotiate since early February when a second impasse was declared by the STF.

Monday’s withdrawal of noon-hour supervision will be for all schools in the following divisions:

• Holy Family Catholic
• Holy Trinity Catholic
• North East School Division
• Prairie Spirit School Division
• Saskatchewan Rivers and Prince Albert Catholic divisions
• All schools in Saskatchewan Rivers and Prince Albert Catholic school divisions.