Toronto public schools will close for in-person learning if CUPE strike goes ahead, board says

The Toronto District School Board says it will close its schools for learning in person on Monday if the Canadian Union of Public Employees goes on strike.

In a labour update on Wednesday, addressed to parents, guardians, caregivers and students, the TDSB said it hopes that the union and the Ontario government can reach an agreement before Monday, but the board warned will have to shut schools for safety reasons if the education workers walk off the job.

"Student supervision and safety are our top priorities and without the important services of nearly 15,000 CUPE employees, we cannot guarantee that our learning environments will remain safe and clean for all students," the TDSB said in the update.

On Wednesday, CUPE filed a five-day strike notice, saying after two days of bargaining, talks had broken down with the province.

The TDSB said a strike by CUPE means some of the following "important work" would not happen:

"We know that this is a challenging time for families, and we continue to work on plans to ensure learning continues and students are supported during any potential disruption. We remain hopeful that an agreement can be reached before Monday," the TDSB said.

According to the TDSB, synchronous learning will begin for those students who can connect online immediately. 

Schools will begin distributing devices to students who require them as soon as possible, but the TDSB said it could take several days and could extend beyond on Monday. Parents, guardians and caregivers will hear directly from their child's school with details about requesting a device, the TDSB said.

"We recognize that some students will not participate in synchronous learning for a variety of reasons, including not having immediate access to a device. In those cases, teachers are asked to provide students with five or more days of asynchronous work so that their learning can continue at home," the TDSB said.

Students already learning online will continue to do so "with some adjustments" if there is a strike.

As for special needs students, teachers will continue to support them according to their special education needs as detailed in their Individual Education Plans, the TDSB said. 

As well, teachers will connect with families of students in intensive support programs to determine appropriate learning on an individual basis. 

The TDSB said it is determining if third-party child-care operators will be allowed to continue during a strike. The board said both TDSB-operated and third-party operated EarlyON Child and Family Centres will be closed. As well, TDSB-operated Extended Day Programs will be closed to all families because it is operated by CUPE employees.

While schools are closed, remote secondary-credit night school and remote Saturday international languages secondary-credit classes will continue to run.