DELTA — The Delta school district has announced another casualty in the ongoing teachers' strike, this time the Summer Quest 2014 youth activity camps.
The district on the weekend stated the camps for all dates this summer have been cancelled due to the continuing labour dispute between the B.C. Teachers' Federation and B.C. Public School Employers' Association.
It came not long after the school district announced that all academic summer school courses had been cancelled as well.
However, amidst the bad news, a local non-profit group that runs a summer program for special needs children got some more good news this week when it was told it would be able to use its rent-free school spaces.
The Delta Life Skills Society summer program is geared for children and young adults with a wide range of disabilities, such as Asperger's syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, developmental delay and seizure disorders.
The program runs for six weeks in July and August out of schools throughout Delta, but the group, almost completely funded by parents, had to scramble to find alternative venues after the BCTF promised to continue pickets outside schools during the summer.
It posed a huge problem because the program uses educational assistants that are members of CUPE, meaning they wouldn't cross picket lines.
The group managed to find alternate venues in churches and halls and was fortunate that some agreed to waive rental fees, however, the society still faced thousands in additional transportation costs.
Last week as the group's program began, it got some good news when it was told it would be able to use at least one classroom at Sands Secondary in North Delta. The society has since received more good news when informed by the Delta Teachers' Association there would be no picket lines at Delta Secondary in Ladner, meaning the program would also have its regular location in South Delta.
"I have to say it's great news. The school board also bent over backwards for us," said George Bates, the society's vice-president whose child attends the program.
"We checked out Port Guichon (Elementary) and were going to move all our sites there in Ladner if there was going to be picketing at DSS. We would have rented two more buses because they were kind of removed and would have been quite a walk for some of the kids. That would have been our biggest expense, maybe another $5,000 for buses. As it turns out, we can stay at DSS."
Meanwhile, the full-blown teachers' strike, which commenced last month, appears destined to drag on throughout the summer.
The BCPSEA and BCTF had agreed that Justice Stephen Kelleher would be an acceptable mediator, however, the teachers' union is complaining the government insisted it accept proposals that would limit bargaining even before entering mediation.
Locally, Delta Teachers' Association president Paul Steer via Twitter noted teachers will explore all options, but he wondered why Delta school trustees have been silent. Delta school board chair Laura Dixon noted during that exchange if there is not a continued effort to reach a deal, the fall semester could be affected.
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