Students learning from home during strike, but not all parents go along
Schools move to online learning on fourth day of strike by thousands of unionized employees
Some parents are not participating in online school in solidarity with government workers, especially educational assistants, who are on strike or locked 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 most bus drivers, custodians and maintenance workers didn't show up 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. And Cardy said 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.
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 it as 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. Geneviève Roy doesn't feel equipped to teach her six-year-old son who has autism, and Florida 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 those with intellectual disabilities. She said the ones designated as essential were 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 started reflecting 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 said in 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 the New Brunswick Nurses Union is also in the midst of contract negotiations that have repeatedly fallen through.
Her son Brantley Ryer has autism and with the suddenness of the strike, Ryer worried he would not get access to the support he usually relies on.
"It felt really sudden even though the strike vote was, like, weeks ago," said Ryer, 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, would log 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 workers on strike but 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 of COVID-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 Brunswick children, 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.
With files from Sarah Dery and Information Morning Saint John