Education in 2014 was defined by a protracted, months-long contract dispute between public teachers and the province.
In the wake of the longest provincewide strike in B.C. history, the ripple effect of that rancour is still moving through School District 57 months after the September bargained end brought students back to school.
It was pretty difficult coming back, said Katherine Trepanier, a teacher at College Heights elementary who also sits on the Prince George and District Teachers Association executive.
Coming back into the schools, really nothing has changed in the system. Theres no more supports for students that need it, said Trepanier, adding she and her colleagues were demoralized and felt devalued as employees.
The funding in the schools still doesn't meet the needs of the kids. Thats probably the toughest part is, teachers lost a lot financially, you know, which we probably would have felt better about if wed felt like wed made a lot of gains as far as the needs of the kids in the class.
The right to negotiate classroom size and composition - an overburdened reality left unaltered by the strike, said Trepanier - was retained in the six-year contract, which also included a 7.25 per cent wage increase over that time and improvements to extended health benefits and teaching-on-call rates.
Trepanier said local class size has been less of an issue - a number supported by superintendent Brian Pepper who said a 2014 report showed 12 out of 836 secondary classes had more than 30 students, while no elementary classes showed such numbers.
The B.C. Teachers' Federation, which represents more than 40,000 public school teachers, is headed to court again after the provincial government appealed a January decision against the governments 2002 removal of clauses on composition and class size in the unions collective agreement. It was the second court to find in the teachers favour, but its a fight likely to continue many months into the future and end only with an answer from the Supreme Court.
But on the ground in Prince George, with contract negotiations behind them, building relations has to be the districts focus said Tony Cable, the school boards new chairperson.
This gives us an opportunity, first of all, to make sure we mend fences and make sure that we have some good relationships moving forward, said Cable at the boards inaugural meeting in December. We have a chance to do a lot of things that you get diverted from when youre in contract negotiations.
Prince George District Parent Advisory Council chair Sarah Holland said its important to remember that despite opposing perspectives, at heart the goal is the same.
Our school system is filled with lots of people who care a great deal, who care passionately about about doing whats right for our kids, said Holland, also acknowledging the strike was a stressful time for all involved.
I think the DPAC perspective was always that we wanted a fair and negotiated settlement as soon as possible.
Teachers had been without contract since 2013 and the six-year deal should extend to May 2019, long after the next provincial election in 2017.
But Holland said time might be the magic ingredient to mend the broken trust between the two sides, brought on by the long-wrought bargaining process.
Its been difficult for relations with the school community as a whole. Im really looking forward to a period where... everybody can come together and rebuild relationships in an atmosphere of more peace and harmony.
Tina Cousins, president of the Prince George and District Teachers Association, said the anger hasnt left.
I do know in our School District 57, we do have good relationships, but those relationships were strained and they still continue to be.
It was a very tumultuous time during that bargaining. I think what our members remember is the mean-spiritedness of a lockout, she said. People felt very devalued.
In Prince George, Trepanier said the community rallied in support of teachers while Cousins found fault in local leadership, calling on trustees to take a greater part in public education advocacy.
I think they need to be harder hitting than what they have been, said Cousins of the board. Strongly worded letters have their time and place but were way beyond that now.
As former longtime chairperson Sharel Warrington puts it, it was a very up and down year.
But Warrington said education became a top conversation item across the province because of the picket line - and thats a good thing.
We really highlighted the profile of public education through that very difficult job action time, she said, which in turn highlighted the importance of understanding the increasingly complex needs of our students and how we address those needs, the needs of the whole child, socially, emotionally and physically as well as academically.
She said the new board heard loud and clear from the community that a fully-funded and supported education system is a high priority.
The presence of 18 candidates on the election ballot for a seven-member board was proof of an elevated interest in education, Warrington said, and the new board bears the responsibility of applying lessons learned from job action.
We cant just say Well it happened and move on. We have to acknowledge what weve learned and build and support our students as we go forward - and our teachers.
