CBE moves in-person parent meetings online due to effects of strike

Sign outside of the Calgary Board of Education main offices in downtown Calgary. (file)

The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) has cancelled in-person parent-teacher meetings due to ongoing labour action involving CUPE 40 members.

The CBE says the members of CUPE 40 make up about five per cent of its workforce, including “cleaners, facility operators, heavy duty mechanic​s, locksmiths and members involved in snow removal, grounds maintenance and other lines of work.”

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The school board confirmed it sent a letter to parents earlier this week notifying them that March parent-teacher conferences were moved online.

It said the labour action is limiting access to CBE schools after hours.

“Schools are being cleaned after dismissal, once students and staff have left the building for the day,” a CBE spokesperson said in an emailed statement Friday.

“Our focus during job action is to keep schools open for in-person learning for students.”

The union blamed the cancellations on the state of schools and lack of background checks for replacement workers.

CUPE says school support workers make less than $35,000 a year on average and haven’t had a significant raise in a decade.

Members have been setting up rotating picket lines at various CBE locations amid the strike.

On Thursday, the Alberta Teachers’ Association said it’s been made aware that some Edmonton schools are rotating between in-person and online learning due to the strike.

The Calgary public and Catholic school boards say they have no intention of doing the same.