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Elementary students won't be getting report cards

Local ETFO members are taking part in a one-day strike Friday
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Timmins' public school board is advising parents that elementary students won't be receiving report cards in February. 

Recently, the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has upped its job action. It is one of four teachers' unions negotiating new contracts with the province.

In a letter to parents, District School Board Ontario North East (DSB1) director of education Lesleigh Dye said report cards for students in Kindergarten to Grade 8 were slated to be sent home Tuesday, Feb. 11. 

"As a result of provincial labour action, elementary teachers will not be completing report cards at this time," she wrote.

"It is our expectation that communication with families regarding student progress has been ongoing throughout the school year. If you have any questions regarding your child's progress and well-being, please contact your child's teacher(s)."

This week, ETFO started rotating strikes. Friday, Jan. 24, ETFO members in DSB1 will be on the picket lines. 

All of the public board's elementary, and Grade 7 and 8 programs in Grade 7 to 12 schools will be closed. The elementary schools will re-open Monday, Jan. 27. 

The English public high schools will be open for students.

Public elementary teachers are also no longer supervising extracurricular activities unless scheduled during the regular school day, and not taking part in field trips. Members are also not arriving at work earlier than 30 minutes before the start of the instructional day are leaving within 15 minutes of the end of classes. They are not planning or participating in assemblies, unless it's to provide supervision to students.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) rotating strikes aren't impacting Timmins-area schools this week, however, its members started new job sanctions Jan. 20.

Teachers and occasional teachers won't be performing on-calls, members won't take on any additional work or responsibilities as the result of an absent members except for if students with special needs are reassigned between educational assistants, members won't assume responsibility for finding replacements for absent employees, and members won't perform the work of another bargaining unit.

Since November, OSSTF members have not been doing standardized testing or prep, completing Ministry of Education Data Reports, participating in school board professional activities, taking part in unpaid staff meetings outside the regular school day, commenting on report cards, or performing work of another bargaining unit. 

Local Catholic teachers were out of the classrooms yesterday for a one-day full withdrawal of services by Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA) members across the province. 

OECTA members started job action Jan. 13. Its members are not completing report cards, participating in EQAO-related activities, and attending or taking part in Ministry of Education initiatives. 

French-language teachers at Association des enseignantes et enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO) also started the first phase of its administrative job action last week.