Teachers stranded by Hwy 4 closure 'couch surfing' to meet district requirements, union says

When falling debris led to the closure of Vancouver Island's Highway 4 on June 6, Port Alberni teachers who live in Parksville and Qualicum Beach found themselves among the commuters unable to return home.

Staff and community members from School District 70 Pacific Rim, which serves Port Alberni, Ucluelet, Tofino, Bamfield and other communities on the west coast of Vancouver Island, opened up their homes to the stranded teachers, inviting them to sleep on couches and spare beds. More than a week later, some teachers still can't return home.

Ryan Dvorak, president of the Alberni District Teachers' Union, said teachers were told to be back in the classroom this past Monday and "that it wasn't the district's concern where they chose to live."

Dvorak says more than half a dozen teachers have been affected by the district's directive. Unable to take their usual half-hour highway commute, the teachers must choose between travelling eight hours round-trip to school every day on a gravel detour road, spending their nights in the home of a community member, or paying out-of-pocket for a hotel room. 

Dvorak says teachers who choose to stay home — as some have decided to do in order to care for their children — will be on unpaid leave. Dvorak says only teachers in specialized positions outside of the classroom have been permitted to teach remotely.

Tim Davie, superintendent of School District 70 Pacific Rim, said teachers affected by the closure were allowed to take paid leave from June 7 to 9 to plan how they could attend school in-person the following Monday.

"From a compassionate lens, we wanted to give people an opportunity to make arrangements and figure out what they were going to do before … they were required to be at work," he said. 

Davie said the district will not compensate teachers based on the east coast of Vancouver Island who have to commute or stay in the district during the highway closure.

'Deadly quiet' provincial response

Dvorak says classroom teachers were faced with a choice: find a way to teach in person or stay home without pay. One teacher hasn't returned home at all since the closure, according to Dvorak.

"There are teachers who have chosen to remain, and are planning to stay until the highway opens one way," he said. "They're still couch surfing, as far as I know."

Dvorak says that while some teachers decided to wake up at 3 a.m. each morning and drive on the detour route to school, many did not feel comfortable driving on gravel logging roads that the Ministry of Transportation advised is for essential travel only.

The ministry said it will tentatively reopen Highway 4 to single-lane traffic on the weekend of June 24.

The closure has taken a toll on teachers' mental health, Dvorak said, particularly those who have spent more than a week separated from their families.

He feels the responsibility for this situation ultimately falls on the province.

"The province has been deadly quiet, and I see this as a provincial responsibility to tell employers what their responsibilities are," said Dvorak. 

B.C.'s Ministry of Education and Child Care declined to speak with the CBC for this story. Josie Osborne, MLA for Mid Island-Pacific Rim, was unavailable for an interview.

Matt Woods, president of the Mount Arrowsmith Teachers' Association on the east coast of Vancouver Island, said a few teachers from their school district were unable to come into school with the highway closed. However, Woods said he did not know any teachers who had lost pay from staying home.