School closures possible due to lack of cleanliness
The Sarnia Observer
Fri Oct 23 2015
Byline: BARBARA SIMPSON, THE OBSERVER
The Lambton Kent District School Board could be forced to close schools if the cleanliness of its facilities continues to deteriorate due to work-to-rule action taken by support staff, says the board’s director of education.
“It’s approaching the point where student safety is going to be or could be compromised, and that puts us in a position where under the Education Act, we could close the schools due to a lack of student safety,” director Jim Costello said Thursday.
“We don’t want to do that. We want to keep programs running and keep the ball rolling as best we can.”
Ontario school support staff -including custodians, secretaries, educational assistants and early childhood educators, to name just a few -have recently ramped up work-to-rule job action after their representative -the Canadian Union of Public Employees -and the Ontario government continue to struggle to reach a new collective agreement.
Under CUPE work-to-rule instructions, custodians aren’t permitted to do a variety of tasks, including sweeping hallways, cleaning the offices of school management, emptying pencil sharpeners and delivering teaching supplies to classrooms. They’ve also been instructed not to cut grass and trim trees, as well as replace bulbs and ballasts, unless there’s a health and safety risk.
“In a number of schools, we have our principals sweeping floors and doing some of the cleaning,” Costello said. “We’re very concerned about our kindergarten classrooms because they’re play-based and they have sandboxes in them.”
And at least some of the board’s roughly 22,000 students are already noticing firsthand the impact of the job action.
About 60 students protested outside of Sarnia Collegiate Institute & Technical School (SCITS) Thursday morning to draw attention to the lack of cleanliness in their school.
Students told The Observer there are layers of dust around the school, as well as urine on the floor of the tech hallway that hasn’t been mopped up, and rat traps in the foods’ room for students to look after themselves.
“It’s nasty in there,” said Grade 12 student Anna McKillop, co-organizer of Thursday’s protest.
But the students say their blame doesn’t lie with the school’s custodians who they say are taking a stand for a fair deal.
“It shows just how much they do for us and why they deserve a raise,” said Kayla Grant, a fellow Grade 12 student and co-organizer of the protest.
She also pointed out custodians are likely struggling with the fact they have to “walk through a school they’ve worked at for years and want to clean up, but they can’t.”
CUPE Local 1238 president Jodi McGill said Thursday their members appreciate the sign of support from SCITS students.
About 1,000 Lambton Kent District support staff are represented through CUPE Local 1238.
“We would definitely like to get a deal,” McGill said. “We’re hoping to bargain until we get a deal.”
CUPE members want a new contract that addresses, in part , concerns around job security, the issue of violence in the classroom and sick days, she noted.
Another round of central bargaining is expected to happen Oct. 27, with a local bargaining date set for Oct. 28.
When asked about the possibility of Lambton Kent public schools closing due to the lack of cleanliness, McGill said the board “will have to do what they have to do.”
Board officials were given “ample notice” ahead of the implementation of the second phase of work-to-rule action, she noted.
“We followed the process and (the board) had the opportunity to make whatever arrangements they needed to make, so all I can say is our members are doing their best to stick to the work-to-rule,” she said.
“Student safety is a priority for us as well. If there is a hazard in the hallway, we are going to pick up the hazard. We don’t want them to trip over things. We don’t want those kinds of things.”
Costello said the school board has hired retired principals and supply teachers to help out during the work-to-rule job action.
“Non-union staff who work at the board office -including superintendents and myself – have been doing some supervision in schools to help out with supervision on playgrounds,” he said. “We’ve mobilized as many non-union staff as we can to put them into schools, so I’m thankful for those folks.”
But Costello said the use of additional staff and outside help for cleaning and supervisory purposes can only last for so long.
“It’s not sustainable over the long-term.”
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WHAT CUPE CUSTODIANS ARE INSTRUCTED NOT TO DO:
* School compost programs;
* Grass cutting, tree trimming or leaf pick-up unless there’s a health and safety risk;
* Clean chalkboards and whiteboards, as well as empty pencil sharpeners;
* Transport photocopy paper and deliver teaching supplies to classrooms;
* Change bulbs and ballasts unless there’s a health and safety risk;
* Check email more than once a day;
* Clean the offices of principals, vice-principals and other managers;
* Sweeping hallways.
(Source: Canadian Union of Public Employees website)
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