SURREY - Teachers in the province's largest school district resumed limited picket lines Tuesday, a week prior to what's supposed to be the start date of the 2014/2015 school year.
But with the BCTF and government seemingly still at odds and time fast running out, Surrey Teachers Association (STA) President Jennifer Wadge said it's unfortunately looking like district's 5,000 teachers will merely be resuming their strike duties instead of their classroom duties after Labour Day.
For this week, teachers are only picketing at four secondary schools in Surrey, Princess Margaret, Johnston Heights, Lord Tweedsmuir and Earl Marriott.
"Starting on Sept. 2, when school should have been getting started if we were going to get a deal, we're going to be resuming the full pickets like we did in June," said Wadge.
According to Wadge, teachers are feeling both anxious and frustrated about the current situation and the state of where the negotiations are at.
"Teachers are very anxious about when they can go back to work and especially for some of our newer teachers. They're
really feeling the financial burden so that's creating a lot of anxiety," said Wadge. "I've heard from a lot of parents over the summer who are feeling that exact same frustration."
Wadge said it was especially frustrating that the situation has been allowed to get to this point.
"So we had these whole two months of July and August when they could have been engaging in meaningful bargaining to get school back in September and it just didn't happen," she said. "Peter Cameron was not getting the OK from government to sit down and meet so that's where teachers are really feeling frustrated, it felt like there wasn't a lot of genuine interest
from government to get school back in September."
Over at the district, a notice is posted for parents saying it was "doing all it can to be prepared for the potential of school opening day on September 2."
The district is also accepting registration for all schools and is reminding parents to check the website for the latest information from the district.
For now, all parents can do is hope that a deal is struck at the eleventh hour, and perhaps begin looking into some of the many day camp offerings popping up in lieu of school being put on hold.
cpoon@thenownewspaper.com