School facilities to be opened during strike

Chilliwack school trustees passed a motion to reopen school facilities for rentals during the teacher strike.

The community won’t be locked out of schools during strike action after all.

After initially putting out a statement that facility rentals would be closed during the teacher strike, the school district has had a change of heart.

Chilliwack school board passed a motion at Tuesday’s board meeting to reinstate facility rentals during strike action.

“Providing the opportunity to our partners to resume with their regular rentals and program plans on evenings and weekends is important so that our community can continue to benefit from these programs,” said board chair Walt Krahn in a media release.

The motion states that “the Board of Education provides the choice for all other regular facility rentals to be able to continue to run programs during Teacher Strike Action, evenings and on weekends.”

Last week, the school district posted a letter to parents on its website indicating that while daycares and preschools would have the option of staying open during the full strike action, facility rentals would not.

Chilliwack school district makes about $360,000 a year on its facility rentals.

Chilliwack Progress