Chinook’s Edge teachers ratify new agreement with school division

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It was unanimously ratified by the board of trustees May 31, and by ATA members on June 6, with 98 per cent of those who voted doing so in favour.

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“Our number one issue for this round was regarding teacher professional development funds. This is something we’d already been supported with by the board in the past, but it was only through policy; policies can change depending on who’s making them,” explains Cherra-Lynne Olthof, teacher welfare committee chair, Local 17.

“Now, that is moved into the collective bargaining agreement, meaning it’s legally binding and guaranteed to be there for teachers.”

Money for professional development can be put towards attending conferences and taking online courses, among other things, by individual teachers.

There were gains for smaller sub-groups as well:

Substitute teachers: a) protections around workload expectations whereby substitutes now follow the schedule of the teacher they were hired to sub for, and b) protection for injury on the job

Administrators: a) guarantees around lieu days, and b) guaranteed kilometreage rate

Colony teachers: a) guarantee that Hutterite religious holidays are honoured as professional learning days (before, teachers were swapping them with regular professional development days which meant they couldn’t join other teachers for professional development)

There are four colony teachers in the division, says Olthof. In all, the Local represents about 600 teachers, plus another 400 to 600 substitutes.

“We’re very happy with negotiations which had a very positive tone and was collaborative,” says Olthof. “We’ve always had that good relationship with the school board and we’re very proud to maintain that through this round.”

Chinook’s Edge School Division Board Chair Holly Bilton adds, “We are pleased to have reached an agreement with the ATA. We appreciate the strong and positive relationship that our board has with Chinook’s Edge teachers, and we look forward to continuing to work together to make a difference for students.”