The teachers’ union and the province disagree over when teachers should next provide report cards to parents.
The B.C. Public School Employers’ Association has filed an application to the Labour Relations Board that seeks a directive ordering teachers to prepare and give report cards to parents as soon as possible and for the B.C. Teachers’ Federation to rescind any advice to the contrary. A hearing was scheduled for Monday.
Mel Joy, BCPSEA chairwoman, said the association wants teachers to provide information on how students have progressed from the beginning of the year until now, including first semester final marks for secondary students.
“We want some indication of how students have done from the beginning of the year until now, but the [B.C. Teachers’ Federation] is saying only at the end of the year and we’re saying that’s too late,” she said. “The administrators of the schools still do not know how the students have done. That’s a whole year gone without knowing who needs support and that’s just not good enough.”
Justin Green, first vice-president of the Nanaimo District Teachers’ Association, said asking teachers to do report cards for periods that happened before the job action ended amounts to asking teachers to do “struck work”.
“To go back and do work that had been struck defeats the purpose of being on strike,” he said. “We’ve already talked to the board and agreed that we’re going to wait until the LRB ruling before anything moves forward.”
Under Phase 1 job action, which ended March 17 with the passage of Bill 22, the Labour Relations Board ruled that report cards were non-essential work, said Green.
In Nanaimo, the second round of elementary report cards were scheduled to go out March 16 – before Bill 22 became law, he said, so the reporting period passed while teachers were still on strike.
“There’s no requirement to do an extra report card,” said Green.
As for secondary students, he said the union agreed to provide first semester marks for Grades 10 and 11 students – marks were already provided for Grade 12 students for graduation and other purposes – but teachers will not provide first semester marks for Grades 8-9 students.
The third reporting term for secondary students is coming up and teachers will be doing report cards detailing student progress so far in the second semester as usual, Green added.
Joy likened the situation to the aftermath of a postal worker strike.
“At the end of the strike, people still have to get their mail,” she said. “Our schools and our districts are trying to get back to normal.”
Jamie Brennan, school board chairman, said the board is following the Education Ministry’s directive to ask teachers to provide the report cards, but he believes it is a small point and one that doesn’t need to be dragged out.
Parents were advised if students did not pass courses, he added.
