City of Windsor to offer more day camp spaces Friday in lieu of job action at schools
The City of Windsor is offering up extra day camp spaces at a number of local community centres in anticipation of school closures related to the education workers job action planned Friday.
“If parents are in a bind Friday morning and they can't send their kids to school for whatever reason, the City of Windsor will make available three day camps across the city,” said Ray Mensour, the city’s commissioner of community services.
Between 30 and 100 spaces will be available at Capri Pizzeria Recreation Complex, the Forest Glade Community Centre and Optimist Community Centre.
“Parents will be able to drop off their kids there as early as 7:30 a.m. and pick them up as late as 5:30 p.m.,” says Mensour, who indicates the price for the day will be $31.
Parents can book in advance by visiting ActiveWindsor.ca but can also show up in the morning and register on site without booking in advance.
CUPE members will be in a legal strike position as of Friday, Nov. 4.
Three of the four big school boards in the area will pivot to online learning at least for the day.
“We’re holding out hope, quite frankly, that there still may be some reason to believe this could be averted,” Steve Fields, spokesperson for the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board (WECDSB) said Wednesday.
Until then, WECDSB has decided to close schools and move students to online, asynchronous learning.
“The teachers will be posting the students work online (and) there’s an expectation that students will check-in and do the assignments but there won’t be a teacher doing instruction virtually like we were accustomed to during the pandemic,” said Fields.
The Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB) on the other hand, will keep schools open on Friday.
“Those who are closest to working with students during instructional time are not part of the CUPE union and therefore we believe we will be able to stay open,” said Erin Kelly, GECDSB director of education.
Should there be future job action at local school boards, Mensour says the city is tracking the situation and will plan accordingly.
“It's certainly our intention to keep tracking how things evolve with negotiations and to offer the service as often as we can,” says Mensour. “Obviously, things are dependent on you know, staffing, planning and all the resources required to offer these services, but it's certainly our intention to be able to offer the services as often as possible.”
With files from CTV’s Michelle Maluske
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.