Cameron Penney
As the school year nears a close, Fort Frances High School students are growing weary of the negotiation impasse between the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation District 5B and Rainy River District School Board.
Teachers have opted for a full withdrawal of services one day a week since April 27—and students feel this is hindering their education.
“I think for most of the students, none of us are really educated on the strike enough to really know whose side to be on,” admitted Grade 12 student Danielle Hammond.
“I’m not on a side,” she noted. “Like, I don’t really understand what that even means.”
Hammond lamented that students had to miss out on plenty of annual events this school year, such as pep rallies, a semi-formal dance, and the “30-hour Famine.”
“For every day lost, we have to make up for it and it’s really stressful on students,” she said.
“I’m not saying that it’s not stressful for the teachers and the school board,” Hammond added. “I just wish it didn’t have to happen.
“It’s been a real downer on the Grade 12 year.”
Students were informed Monday that the teachers’ next strike days will impact final exams, which were scheduled for June 17-24.
In a statement, the board noted “the OSSTF provincial president has advised the RRDSB that strike days by high school teachers will take place on Friday, June 17 and Monday June 20.”
“Exams that were planned for these dates will be re-scheduled and high schools will be closed to Grades 9-12 students on both [days],” the statement added.
“Details regarding the re-scheduling of exams will be shared as soon as this information is available.”
Students feel that disrupting exam week makes it difficult to properly plan and prepare for their exams.
“If you have a day planned for your exam, you might have taken that day off work,” explained Grade 12 student Jaymee Fiset.
“But now it’s moved so maybe you work that day and you can’t study,” she reasoned.
Grade 10 student Kendyn Faragher said the strike has not affected him as much as others, but the re-scheduled exams will impact his plans for a summer job.
“Friday was my only exam day and my plan was to just get done with school and then start work a week early,” he noted.
“So therefore I was kind of frustrated because I have to change my schedule around now.”
While many students are feeling frustrated, OSSTF District 5B president Kent Kowalski said it’s never been their intention to have a negative impact on students.
“We have, since the onset of sanctions, which was in December, tried everything we could not to affect any part of the students’ day,” he stressed.
“We have picked sanctions and did things to try and minimize that,” he noted. “At the same time, every time talks broke down, we said we’ll up the sanctions.
“At a certain point, we’ve got no place else to go other than what we’re doing.
“It’s not an easy decision to do this,” Kowalski admitted. “But there is some shared responsibility in the fact that the board could fix this by actually sitting down and bargaining with us, instead of always throwing arbitration at us, to get a deal.
“If we had a deal today, everything would go back to normal.”
When classes have been cancelled for weekly strike days, the school board has encouraged students “to continue their learning through self-directed study, continuing to prepare for their exams or assignments as under normal circumstances.”
Despite this, some students argue their education is adversely affected outside of the classroom.
“It’s so much harder to sit at home on a nice day and do work,” reasoned Grade 12 student Lauren Vold.
“I need that school setting in order to get work done,” she explained.
“It’s hard for me to sit at home and focus on school work.”
Vold added she’s a student in the “School within a College” program, and the strike days have impacted getting her work done in that course.
“You have to go see your teacher to get new booklets and you can’t take booklets home, so how do you get courses done?” she wondered.
“Those hours make a huge difference.”
“I think it would be more effective if we had school,” agreed fellow 12th-grader Myla Angus.
“We have been doing our work but it would be better with a teacher’s assistance,” she reasoned.
“We’re cramming that day full of school work,” Angus noted. “Most kids have spent 90 percent of the strike days trying to get their work done because it’s the end of our Grade 12 year.
“[Post-secondary] schools care about these marks and kids are on waiting lists,” she stressed. “If they don’t keep their averages up, they could be taken off the waiting list or have their acceptance pulled.
“It’s really affecting the Grade 12 year.
Kaitlyn Baldwin, another Grade 12 student, argued independent study isn’t possible in courses such as manufacturing.
“I don’t think it’s fair for students that are in shop classes because you are expected to do the same amount of work with less time,” she remarked.
“It’s not something you can take home and do,” Baldwin said. “So your marks are going to decrease because you have less time.”
With files from Heather Latter
