Comox Valley parents have differing views on the teacher strike, according to Comox Valley District Parents Advisory Council (DPAC) chair Tonia Frawley.”Not everyone feels the same,” she said Tuesday morning in the midst of the three-day teacher strike this week.”As parents, I think the ultimate goal for us is to see that (students) all get a fair, equal education.”She said DPAC values all teachers in the Comox Valley and wishes them a fair settlement, but that it hopes this happens sooner than later.”We hope that it comes to a close quickly and without incident, and that all students will in some form benefit in the end,” she said.Frawley added that she has heard some parents praise the teachers’ actions and some complain about them, but most parents have not voiced their political stances one way or the other.”I think that the majority of the parents that I know, that I have dialogue with, are not political people, and those who are I think probably hold it to themselves knowing that those people aren’t,” explained Frawley.She also pointed out that the two sides — the BC Teachers’ Federation and the BC Public School Employers’ Association — are so polarized that it can be hard to decide which side to take. “You look at anything on the news or the Internet and they contradict each other so — it’s down the middle — that you just don’t know,” said Frawley.Late last week, DPAC started taking names of child care providers and organizing a list to help parents with their child care arrangements during school closures Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.Eighteen volunteer care providers signed up — but no parents asked for help. Frawley said the fact that parents were notified schools would be closed late last week probably helped with their child care arrangements.”There was enough notice for people to be able to do something about it,” she said. “I think that there were enough community things happening, and probably a lot of people already made arrangements for play dates and tradeoffs.”writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com

Comox Valley Record