The province's parent advisory councils want children to return to school in September, even if the dispute continues.
Sarah Holland, the president of School District 57's Parent Advisory Council, was one of the attendees at the B.C. Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils' meeting this weekend. There were parent leaders from 28 school districts representing 81 per cent of B.C. students.
"First and foremost, we do want there to be a fair and negotiated settlement," she said. "If there isn't that in place by Sept. 2, we want the lockout to be lifted by the government and the full teachers' strike suspended by the [B.C. Teachers' Federation]. We want our students to return to a safe and respectful school environment while the bargaining continues, in the background, out of the public."
News on how negotiations are going between the teachers and the province has been limited, said Richard Giroday, the Prince George and District Teachers' Association's first vice-president. The two sides are meeting and expert mediator Vince Ready is helping facilitate those talks.
"We're just hopeful that these talks will come to fruition, so hopefully something will come out of this," he said.
The association currently has no plans for further action, but it will be discussing the issue Wednesday.
The confederation also wants to see changes to how classroom resources are provided so that it better serves students, said a media release. They'd like to remove quotas and ratios, instead establishing a Classroom Resources Fund - protected from other cost pressures - that's more flexible in meeting student needs. The teachers' federation has been asking for the government to place hard limits on class sizes and compositions in its negotiations.
Holland said the confederation was open to different ways to provide classroom resources and that it would like to see teachers, governments and other stakeholders work together to come up with a mutually acceptable solution. Parents, at both the provincial and district level, can be the voice that brings everyone together.
"On many districts' levels, often parents are the ones that can actually talk to all of the groups," she said. "Sometimes you have groups disagreeing and not talking. We'd like to help everybody talk respectfully, together, for the benefit of the kids."
As for the near future, parents should prepare for different possibilities and prepare back up plans, said the council's website.
"I'd definitely line up some child care," Holland said.
The province has not released any new details about its plan to provide parents with $40 per day per student who are 12 years old and under. It has promised to release new details online at bcparentinfo.ca/parent-support-resources/.
