Here’s which schools are open and closed as CUPE strike continues

The vast majority of eastern Ontario’s 12 school boards have moved to online learning this week as tens of thousands of education workers remain on strike across the province.

Early childhood educators, educational assistants, librarians and custodians represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) walked off the job Friday.

The Progressive Conservative Ontario government passed legislation imposing a contract on them and declaring any strike to be illegal. It also uses the notwithstanding clause to protect against constitutional challenges.

On the weekend, CUPE said their members remain on strike Monday and in the days to come even if an Ontario labour board determines their strike is illegal. 

Its leadership had scheduled a news conference for 11 a.m. ET Monday before Premier Doug Ford offered to rescind the law CUPE ends their ongoing strike action.

In eastern Ontario, only two school boards have decided all classes will be open as per usual on Monday. One is opening half its schools and the other nine have moved online: either synchronous learning — where classes occur online in real time — or asynchronous learning.

Here’s a look at the most recent plans.

Open

Schools with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) will follow a normal schedule despite the CUPE strike, as no OCDSB staff are members of the union.

In an email to parents last week, the OCDSB said “a small number of students who are in specialized programs” with the city’s English Catholic board may be affected, and they would be contacted directly.

French Catholic schools and daycares that are part of the Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est are also slated to stay open this week.

In a letter sent to parents on the weekend, director of education Marc Bertrand said the board’s schools would be able to open as they have enough staff to comply with cleaning and disinfection guidelines from the ministry of education.

The board has said that 160 of its janitors and tradespeople are part of CUPE, fewer than at other boards.

Partly open

The Renfrew County Catholic District School Board has said that some of its custodians are part of CUPE, along with all tradespeople.

According to an announcement Sunday on social media, 10 of its schools will switch to remote learning Monday, while the other half will be open for in-person learning.

For those going remote, Monday and Tuesday would be asynchronous learning days, while Wednesday would be synchronous.

Closed

The Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) said last week that the job action prevents its schools from opening safely.

Its schools moved to online learning Friday and that’s slated to continue this week, with classes occurring remotely on regular schedules.

Tom D’Amico, director of education with the Ottawa Catholic School Board, said CUPE members represent roughly 2,000 workers at Catholic schools in Ottawa. This includes computer support staff.

The Conseil scolaire de district catholique de l’Est ontarien (CSDCEO) said Monday would be asynchronous learning and classes would move to synchronous learning on Tuesday.

Its classes distinctes will continue in schools as long as they can. Extracurriculars and community permits are cancelled.

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce answers questions in the legislature last week during a debate about the CUPE strike. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)

The Conseil des Écoles Publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario (CEPEO) is moving to synchronized online learning on Monday, and that will continue until further notice. Its child-care services close and extracurriculars stop.

The Upper Canada District School Board said in a weekend update schools will remain closed on Monday. Classes will be will be synchronous, the board said, adding striking workers are a “significant” part of its workforce.

Schools with the Limestone District School Board in the Kingston area will be closed until further notice, the board said in a Sunday update.

Teachers will provide asynchronous learning over email or an online learning platform.

Asynchronous learning will also continue Monday at the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario, according to its latest update.

The plan is to transition to synchronous learning on Tuesday, the board said on the weekend. It has a help line for technical problems with online learning.

The Renfrew County District School Board said last week it was planning for asynchronous learning Monday and then synchronous learning on Tuesday. No changes to those plans were announced on the weekend.

All of its extracurriculars and community use permits are paused and parents should contact child-care services out of its schools directly.

A protest sign is posted outside Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod’s office in Ottawa on Nov. 4, 2022, the first day of a provincewide strike involving educational workers. (Francis Ferland/CBC)

The Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board said asynchronous learning is in place Monday.

The board is pausing before- and after-school care and school use permits.

Finally, the Algonquin & Lakeshore Catholic District School Board has also closed schools and switched to asynchronous learning for Monday and Tuesday.

If the strike continues, all emergency online classes will switch to synchronous learning on Wednesday, director of education David DeSantis said in a letter to parents on the weekend.

Before- or after-school care has been halted at all school sites, as have extracurriculars on school property. Any parent-teacher interviews that were scheduled may continue as planned, DeSantis said.