NSGEU workers in Annapolis Valley strike October 24, 2022. Photo Courtesy NSGEU

Workers at schools across the South Shore will be on strike Tuesday morning.

The South Shore Regional Center for Education issued a statement informing parents schools will remain open for grade primary to 12 students, but because Early Childhood Educators won’t be in the classroom the pre-primary program will not be offered.

Members of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union Local 70 including Early Childhood Educators; Outreach Workers, Student Support Workers, Office Administration Assistants; Clerks and IT Support Specialists voted with a 92 percent majority to reject the latest contract offer from the South Shore Regional Centre for Education.

They’re unhappy people who do the same jobs are paid differently depending on which Centre for Education they work for in the province.

Across Nova Scotia, each of the seven Regional Centres and the French school board negotiate their own contracts with their employees.

NSGEU president Sandra Mullen says it doesn’t make sense to have separate contracts with different rates of compensation when the money is coming from one source: the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

“It’s one department and it should be the same wage across,” said Mullen. “ And you know, we have government on record saying they want to get there too. So, now’s the time.”

South Shore Regional Centre for Education Executive Director Paul Ash says the Regional Centre will do its best to get people into key positions to minimize the disruption.

“Obviously when you lose 160 individuals as a result of an impending strike action, we won’t have the same number of resources available but our first and primary goal is to focus on continuing to support the needs of our students,” said Ash.

He says since the days of the old school boards, each region has negotiated contracts with their own employees.

Ash believes a fair offer was made to the Local to stave off a strike and says steps are being prepared to provide parity across all school districts.

“There is a plan to conduct a comprehensive review of all the jobs within all the entities and then align that compensation across the province,” said Ash. “Unfortunately, we’re not at a point where that is happening right now.”

Of the seven regional centres, NSGEU represents five, including Tri-County, South Shore, Annapolis Valley, Chignecto-Central and Halifax.

NSGEU President Sandra Mullen (left) on the picket line with an Annapolis Valley worker October 24, 2022. Photo courtesy NSGEU

NSGEU President Mullen says she’d like to see the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development take a more prominent role in negotiations to ensure parity across all regions.

“They’re not sitting in the room when we negotiate, but I’m sure they’re behind the curtain,” said Mullen.

The South Shore is the second local to strike after NSGEU members in Annapolis Valley already walked off the job Monday.

Mullen says her members would rather be in school doing what they love instead of walking a picket line.

“That’s the heartbreaking part of all this. It is not the children or the school administrator they’re upset with. It is government,” said Mullen. “And it’s government who can make this right.”

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Lawn signs welcome the lifting of mask mandates in school. Photo Ed Halverson

Reaction is mixed as students won’t be required to wear masks in school for the first time when they return to class after the Victoria Day long weekend.

Masks have been mandatory in most indoor public places across Nova Scotia since July 31, 2020.

When the restrictions are lifted May 24 the province will be the last in Canada to remove mask mandates in schools.

When announcing the policy change Friday, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development Becky Druhan said masks will continue to be recommended and anyone who chooses to wear a mask will be supported.

In a release, Druhan said, “Masks helped schools mitigate the impact of COVID-19’s sixth wave. But as warmer weather approaches in June and classes can spend more time outdoors, and with Nova Scotia’s health data and school attendance data improving, now is the time to make masks optional in schools.”

In response to the announcement Doctors Nova Scotia tweeted out, “While the school mask mandate is being lifted beginning May 24, masks are still recommended in indoor spaces.”

Minister Druhan echoed the sentiment.

In her statement Druhan said, “We strongly encourage students and staff to continue to wear masks, and we will continue to support staff and students as well as continue to supply masks and hand sanitizer.”

In an interview with CBC, the chief of paediatrics at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Dr. Andrew Lynk warned that his facility is already stretched to its limits.

Lynk went on to say paediatricians across the province had hoped masking in schools would remain in place until the end of the school year on June 30 to prevent a rise in the number of children coming to hospital with COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses.

The weekly COVID update released by the province May 19 shows the number of new cases and hospitalizations continues to decline.

However, 24 people died as a result of COVID for the seven-day period ending May 16; 22 were aged 70 or older and nine lived in long-term care homes.

In an email to the school community Regional Executive Director of South Shore Regional Centre for Education Paul Ash said students, staff and visitors are encouraged to continue following core public health measures, including vaccinations, staying home if feeling unwell, following the COVID-19 daily checklist, and washing and sanitizing hands frequently.

Ash says while masks are no longer required, schools will continue to make them available to anyone who wishes.

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L-R Denise Crouse, Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Becky Druhan and SSRCE Regional Executive Director Paul Ash. Photo Ed Halverson

A new pilot project running in the South Shore aims to keep students safer when travelling to and from school.

An extended stop arm has been installed on the bus serving route 245 in Hebbville to reduce red-light violations when students are entering or exiting the bus.

The new arm extends 6.5 feet out from the vehicle into the oncoming traffic lane and includes two stop signs which light up when the bus is stopped.

Transportation coordinator with South Shore Regional Centre for Education Denise Crouse says across Canada, only two other jurisdictions in BC are currently using the new arm.

“They’re seeing a huge decrease so we wanted to bring it on to the East coast to see what our data will show and what impact it will have in terms of student safety in Nova Scotia,” said Crouse.

The Hebbville bus route has the highest proportion of the 178 red light violations the SSRCE has recorded this year.

The regional office will compare those numbers with data collected on the route until the end of the year to determine if more buses will receive the extended stop arm.

Crouse says this pilot project builds on efforts the region has been making to improve student safety.

“We’ve had cameras on our fleet for a number of years but they’re not on our entire fleet,” said Crouse. “For this particular route we do have exterior cameras to catch the driver’s photo and capture their license plate which we need here in Nova Scotia in order to lay a charge.”

Each arm costs approximately $5,500 and is designed to break away if it is hit by a vehicle.

Crouse says if the pilot shows a significant reduction in red light violations the extended arms could be installed on buses across the region in a phased approach.

“It could be something that we would do on a yearly basis, so many buses per year, as we do with our camera systems,” said Crouse.

Passing a school bus from any direction when its lights are flashing is illegal in Nova Scotia.

Motorists can receive a $410 fine and a penalty of six points on their license.

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SSRCE School Bus. Photo Ed Halverson

The recent bout of snowstorms and school cancellations have caused headaches for many across the South Shore but none more than Paul Ash.

As regional executive director for the South Shore Centre for Education (SSRCE) Ash makes the decision to close schools when weather makes driving conditions too dangerous.

“It’s the most difficult decision that I have in the role of a regional executive director. We have 6,380 students in our region. More than 6,100 of them are part of our daily transportation to school,” said Ash. “The safety of our students is the upmost importance.”

Ash and his team look at the road conditions across 90 bus routes that bring students to class.

“With changing weather conditions related to climate change, it’s become even more complex in the last number of years. I mean we see that in our region it could be raining in in one part of our region and snowstorm in another or it’s even more difficult when we’re looking at situations around icing, which is extremely difficult to predict as well,” said Ash.

SSRCE Executive Director Paul Ash. Photo Ed Halverson

When weather is expected, Ash says transportation coordinators from across Nova Scotia begin conferring around 4:30 in the morning.

They speak with representatives from the provincial public works department and compare notes on road conditions before presenting that information and advising their respective executive directors around 5:15am.

Ash says it’s important students attend school as much as possible and not just for their education.

“We’re very mindful of the impact of any cancellation on families. I know that that may make the difference for a particular family in terms of their income if they’re unable to get to work that day,” said Ash. “That’s the other side of the coin which makes it extremely difficult around these decisions.”

Depending on the severity of the snow or ice storm it can take days for road crews to clear less travelled roads.

Ash says on those days the region will move to a back road closure plan when students need to get themselves to a main road to catch their bus to school.

He says the fact attendance has remained high throughout this school year speaks to the importance parents and students place on their education.

Ash says people will always criticize a decision to close schools but he would rather err on the side of keeping students safe.

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Photo Ed Halverson

Christmas holidays are over for students across Nova Scotia as they return to online classes Monday.

The measures will last a week, giving schools and public health officials time to prepare the buildings, students, and staff for a safe return during the omicron outbreak.

Regional Director at South Shore Regional Centre for Education Paul Ash says the move to online learning will be very familiar to the school community.

“This isn’t new territory for us. We’ve learned a lot over the last two years in terms of online learning and other ways of engaging our students when they’re not in classrooms,” said Ash. “Obviously, we still believe that schools are safe and they’re the best place for our students to be.”

Getting fresh air into classrooms in some schools across the province has been a struggle.

Some buildings do not have mechanical ventilation systems and must rely on natural ventilation, in other words, opening a window.

North Queens Community School in Caledonia is one of eight schools across the region which will install HEPA filters to improve the air quality.

The province has also said 3-ply masks will be made available to students upon their return to in-class learning.

Ash says students and staff in this region have always had access to three-ply masks.

“Those are the masks that are available to our students in our schools right now. At the outset [we] made sure we had more than enough masks available. We have masks available, and they continue to be available to any students and staff that would like those,” said Ash.

SSRCE Executive Director Paul Ash. Photo Ed Halverson

The province also announced test kits will be distributed to schools once they’ve been received from the federal government.

Parents have raised concerns about communication from the schools, in particular, how they will be notified if a classmate has contracted COVID.

Ash says schools will follow the lead of public health regarding how and when those notifications will be made.

“So, we’re part of a mechanism. We don’t make those decisions and I’d be a little concerned being the person to say this is what I think they should do when really, they’ve done such a great job,” said Ash. “Our role is to implement the directives, not actually to create those. So, we’re part of those conversations but at the end of the day, we take the advice of public health and implement as directed.”

He says discussions will take place with public health over the next week so students, staff and parents will know exactly how they are to be notified of COVID cases in schools.

Ash praised families and staff for their hard work and sacrifice to keep COVID cases in regional schools low since the start of the pandemic.

“I do want to thank members of the community in South Shore for their fantastic work over the last couple of years that has allowed us to continue to work with our students in such a positive way.”

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New Tech Ed building under construction behind Liverpool Regional High School. Photo Ed Halverson

Construction of the new Technology Education building at Liverpool Regional High School is underway.

Regional Executive Director of South Shore Regional Centre for Education Paul Ash says the new facility will open up more options for students.

“Unfortunately, sometimes people who don’t have those early experiences, in terms of exposure, the hands-on aspect of it, don’t really have a clear direction,” said Ash. “We’re hoping with the skill trades facility being there, students can focus on the areas they want to go to.”

Ash says the trades programs are so popular LRHS will be expanding to two classes of the Construction 11 program and a class for Skilled Trades 10 this fall.

Students in those programs gain valuable experience that show what options are open to them in their post-secondary education.

“Essentially they’re carpentry skills, plumbing skills, electrical skills; they’re exposed to a wide variety of the different skills so that they’re better able to make the decision about where they’d like to specialize when they go into NSCC,” said Ash.

Workers build frame of new Tech Ed facility. Photo Ed Halverson

LRHS is working to secure a Tech Ed teacher who is already a skilled tradesperson to provide students another leg up in their careers.

“If we have a skilled tradesperson who’s teaching the class, the students are actually building hours towards their apprenticeship while they’re at the high school level,” said Ash.

The $975,000 project funded through the Department of Education and awarded to Rikjak Construction is set to be complete by September.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
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