With the announcement Thursday by the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation of a one-day strike planned for Tuesday, January 16th, many wondered what would happen at schools that day.  

Keith Keating is the Director of Education for South East Cornerstone Public School Division. He confirmed the doors will not be opening on Tuesday.  

“Without teachers being available in schools, it makes it pretty difficult to operate schools, so my understanding is, across the province as well as in (South East) Cornerstone School Division here, we will be closing schools for that day to students,” Keating explained.  

For those who are outside of a traditional school setting, and enrolled in online classes through SaskDLC, it was confirmed there will be no school as well. In a statement issued to parents, SaskDLC stated there would be no online classes or planned activities that day, and teachers would not be responding to questions or marking assignments.  

With some extracurricular activities scheduled for the weekend, some parents were wondering if those activities would be impacted ahead of the one-day walkout. 

“Our understanding right now is that this weekend would be normal for extracurricular activities unless there are further communications from the STF prior to the weekend,” Keating clarified.  

Keating also acknowledged that the situation could create some challenges for parents and caregivers next week.  

“It is an unfortunate situation,” Keating said for those scrambling to find childcare for that day. “We were glad that the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation gave plenty of notice in this particular case so we could communicate with our families as quickly as possible. We know it’s an inconvenience for families and it is really a hardship for some, but there’s not much we can do about it when the teachers have gone on strike.” 

The five-day notice from the STF, according to their release, is intended to give enough advance warning to parents so they can find alternate arrangements for childcare and to allow the Government a chance to change their stance and go back to negotiations.