Burnaby music teacher Lucas Teodoro da Silva wasn’t sure Sunday if he could go on with his show this week after the surprise announcement of the teacher lockouts.
Lockouts were the response of the B.C. Public School Employers Association to the B.C. Teachers Federation announcement of rotating, one-day strikes that begin Monday in Vancouver, New Westminster, Mission, and 14 other school districts around the province.
After two months of rehearsals for The Escape, that celebrates the 100th birthday of Second Street elementary, da Silva was afraid he couldn’t mount the evening shows Tuesday and Wednesday due to liability issues.
“It’s very, very confusing if you’re on the front line,” said da Silva. “Who is going to give me an answer? I don’t know.”
On Sunday, the BCPSEA responded to The Province’s query about the situation in an email that made it clear teachers and students are both covered at events like Second Street’s show.
“Everything that was covered before the lockout continues to be covered during the partial lockout,” said the email from a BCPSEA representative.
“A school district’s general liability insurance covers teachers and other volunteers in the event of accidental death, injury or damages related to school-sponsored or district-sponsored events or activities,” continued the email. “The partial lockout has no impact on the application of general liability insurance to teachers who volunteer their time for school-sponsored extracurricular activities.”
Da Silva, who had been waiting until the last minute to print up tickets, programs and notifications for parents, still has to get the support of about 20 staff members to put on the production — which stars the entire student body of more than 300 children.
And he doesn’t know if other teachers with other events at other schools concerned about liability have been officially informed they are covered as volunteers — if they even want to volunteer.
“I know lots of people who are not continuing shows for various reasons, including that one,” said da Silva. “When you announce something (the lockouts) on a Thursday afternoon, it makes it really tough for people to figure things out.”
Da Silva isn’t the only one struggling. The Vancouver School Board has talked to its lawyers about the situation, said chairwoman Patti Bacchus.
“We are trying to get a legal interpretation in terms of our responsibilities and obligations and liabilities as a school board,” she said. “We are getting these conflicting directives.”
Teachers in Burnaby won’t hold their strike until Thursday, but like the remainder of their brethren around B.C., they will be partially locked-out beginning Monday, which means they can only be in school 45 minutes before and after the end of the school day. Also off-limits for locked-out teachers are lunch hours and recess.
As a result, teachers are also being docked 10 per cent of their pay, which causes an accounting complication for school districts dealing with full- and part-time employees, as well as those on leave.
BCTF president Jim Iker said the union will be before the Labor Relations Board Thursday to challenge that 10-per-cent cut.
There will be full lockouts for secondary schoolteachers June 25 and 26, with elementary schoolteachers joining their secondary school colleagues June 27. About 559,000 students are affected.
Negotiations on a new contract for the province’s 41,000 teachers resumes Monday afternoon and are scheduled to continue Tuesday and Wednesday.
