Edmonton parents express mixed feelings as Alberta government ends teachers’ strike with back-to-work legislation

Parents across Alberta are sharing mixed emotions after the provincial government introduced back-to-work legislation, forcing striking teachers to return to classrooms by Wednesday.

“I just want my daughter back to school, but at the same time, my heart goes to the teachers,” said Leah Gagagena, a parent of a child in Grade 1.

One parent says while she’s relieved her son is going back to school Wednesday, she doesn’t agree with the province using the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to end the strike.

“I know my son is really excited to be back in school because obviously this has been a long three weeks of him not having access to his friends and his routine, but I’m a little disappointed,” said Robyn. “I support the teachers, I support what they wanted. I would have been prepared to keep my son home if this needed to go on longer. I was more than comfortable with that if it meant that we were gonna get a resolution.”

Another parent says she’s worried forcing teachers back to school will have an impact on kids.

“I have a daughter in kindergarten and I don’t want her to go to the school and have upset teachers,” said Inacia.

“Even if they go back to school, they will be missing certain parts of the education just by the sheer fact that the teachers are tired and they have to do a lot of stuff not only inside school but also outside,” said Liam Sauve-Osinchuk, who just graduated from high school last year.

Children across Alberta are expected to return to class Wednesday morning.

Edmonton Public Schools says it is still waiting for direction from the provincial government on learning outcomes and January diploma exams. Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides says it will be up to individual school boards to decide how to make up lost classroom hours, adding there will not be a province-wide approach.

“Each school division manages their own calendar, so I would imagine that school boards might be looking at their own circumstances and taking a little bit of a different approach, maybe extending days, extending hours or things of that nature,” said Nicolaides.

Edmonton Public has confirmed the fall break will still happen as scheduled but did not comment on how it plans to make up for the lost time.

–With files from Hiba Kamal-Choufi