Dear Sir:
As the school year draws to a close, CUPE members who work in the Coast Mountains School District # 82 take time to reflect on the past year and prepare for September 2011.
Working in the public school system is a great job and it is also a labour of love. Students are at the center of it all, no matter what job CUPE members do.
Our SSA’s work with students who need specialized support – and spend their days in and out of the classroom – ensuring that all students can be successful. They will miss the students who they supported this year and we know those students will miss them.
While the number of custodians who keep schools clean and maintain buildings and grounds is lower in the summer, many schools will get a “deep cleaning” – computer labs, lockers, windows, and every surface are cleaned. Classrooms will be cleared and floors cleaned and waxed.
Clerical staff will close financial accounts and get ready for auditors. Maintenance departments will repair and paint facilities. Electricians will do light refitting and other replacement and repair. New building and grounds projects will take shape.
At the end of this year we say good bye to retiring members. There are 13 CUPE members with 307 combined years of experience retiring in our district this June. We wish them well and we know our communities do too.
For the CUPE staff who will be there to open up schools in September it will be a challenging year. We are bargaining for new collective agreements. Our schools and student services feel the effects of chronic underfunding.
But regardless of these challenges, we look forward to welcoming new and returning students when it starts all over again in September and wish everyone a safe and fun-filled summer.
Wilma Maier
President of CUPE Local 2052
Kitimat, B.C.
