Students learning from home during strike, but not all parents go along

Some parents are not participating in online school in solidarity with government workers, especially educational assistants, who are on strike orlocked out by the province.

On Friday,thousands of members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees went on strike over wages. Schools stayed closed as mostbus drivers, custodians and maintenance workers didn't showup to work.

Education Minister Dominic Cardy provided an update on Monday regarding the impact of the strike but was unable to provide a figure for the number of students declared absent.

Over the weekend,the province locked out 3,000 employees not designated as essential. AndCardysaid that even if all the staff designated as essential showed up, there would not be enough to keep schools open for in-person learning.

Close to 100,000 students in the province are affected by the strike.

N.B. locks out 3,000 education workers in 3rd day of CUPE strike

3 years ago

Duration 1:19

The New Brunswick government on Sunday locked out all non-designated CUPE members in the Department of Education. Schools across the province will move to online learning as of Monday.

Some parents took to social media to accuse the province of misusing online learning. Parent Sally Melanson said her child won't be participating because the province is using itas a strategy instead of a tool to keep children informed.

"I just kind of felt like it was a tactic to make this strike irrelevant,'" she said in an interview with Radio-Canada. "Like, 'We don't need you anyway, we just need the teachers and computers.'"

Parents like Melanson have to stay at home during periods of online learning because their children rely on educational assistants or are too young and parents don't have access to child care.

Radio-Canada spoke to two other parents who are keeping their kids off the school laptops. Genevive Roy doesn't feel equipped to teachher six-year-old son who has autism, andFlorida Ann Martin, whose son has special needs, feels the same.

The locked-out school employees include custodians, bus drivers, school library assistants, administrative support workers and educational assistants.

Melanson said she personally knows many educational assistants, whose job is to assist children who need extra support, such as thosewith intellectual disabilities. She said the ones designated as essentialwere in school, ready to work.

"Every time [the province says]'the union strike cancelled your children's Halloween party,' we had about seven EAs,just friends of mine, saying 'I was at school ready for your kids.'"

Crossing the 'virtual picket line'

For Kelly Ryer, the choice to not log onto online learning for her five-year-old son was a matter of principle.

"I startedreflecting on why we were doing online learning as a response to a strike ...I don't mind doing it when it's in response to a pandemic," Ryer saidin an interview from her home in Oromocto.

"I really think that it is ... crossing the virtual picket line and where the government is trying to replace our frontline workers and our CUPE workers with online learning and using it almost as a cop-out."

Ryer, who is also a nurse, said she sympathizes with CUPE workers who have taken to the picket lines, given that theNew Brunswick Nurses Union is also in the midst of contract negotiations that have repeatedly fallen through.

Her sonBrantley Ryerhas autism and with the suddenness of the strike, Ryerworried hewould not get access to the supporthe usually relies on.

"It felt really sudden even though the strike vote was, like, weeks ago," saidRyer, who considers herself lucky that her current schedule as a nurse allows her to stay at home to take care of her son.

On Oct. 6, all 10 CUPE locals who were in wage talks with the province voted in favour of a strike.

Deciding to log on

Erica Henderson of Fredericton decided her two children, who are 11 and 13 years old, wouldlog onto virtual learning.

Henderson said her decision was based on what was best for her family and seven children, and taking into account the fact that teachers are not on strike.She said she supports the workerson strikebut also wants to respect the teachers who are at work.

"I think they have every right to strike, and that's totally fine," she said in an interview."I drove by the protest, honked the horn, and I support them.

"And at the same time, I'm also supporting the teachers who are trying to do their best to educate the kids and my kids log into their learning online."

Learning from home doesn't work for everyone

The New Brunswick Association for Community Living is worried about what the switch to online learning could mean for students with intellectual or developmental disabilities who need educational assistants.

Sarah Wagner, the association's executive director, said a routine disruption could have a negative impact on these kids.

"Being at home means that parents have to provide hands-on support through the day, even when they're working and with circuit breakers throughout the province," she said.

She said the closure is bringing back bad memories from last year, when schools were closed because ofCOVID-19.

"I almost think for many of our parents, it's like PTSD setting back in and saying, 'Oh my gosh, how long is this going to to last? What is this going to mean?'" she said."We have parents questioning their current employment situation because of their day-to-day need to care for their child. So that's that's scary. There's a lot of unknowns."

She said the best move to protect these children and parents would be to move quickly to reach an agreement.

"We need to get to the table. We need we need quick action because, again, it's so important to New Brunswickchildren, children with a disability, and New Brunswick families."

She said if things are not resolved quickly, mental health needs and learning gaps will only increase.