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Pa ge 1 0 T hu rs da y, O ct ob er 8 , 2 01 5 - T he IF P - H al to n H ill s - w w w .th ei fp .c a MoreMoney* Every Month Tax Free The Liberal Child Benefit for Middle Class Families Authorized by the Official Agent for Dr. Don Trant. dontrant.liberal.ca Call 1.877.283.4424 SupportDonTrant* Compared with the Conservative or NDP plans Calling all neil DiamonD Fans!! JOHN ELLIOT THEATRE 9 Church Street, Georgetown 905-877-3700 www.HaltonHills.ca/Theatre Starring The Incredible... Canada's #1 Neil Tribute "Sweet Caroline" "I'm a Believer" "Song Sung Blue" Ca da's #1 Neil Tribute MarK THOMaS neil diaMOnd gReaTesT loVe songs SAT. OCT. 17 8:00 P.M. $32 / $29 all inclusive No dates have been announced for the ratification votes by teachers and trustees. Details of the deal would be re- leased upon ratification. The OSSTF represents 1,300 per- manent full- and part-time high school teachers at the Halton District School Board. Local administrative sanctions remain until the tentative agreement has been ratified by both sides. The provincial body of the OSSTF ratified a central bargaining contract in September. NEWS Sanctions remain until high school deal ratified Continued from page 1 Parents protest unlocked front doors on elementary schools A handful of parents from Kilbride Public school in north Burlington head- ed south yesterday to voice their concern over the Halton public school board's re- cent decision to unlock the front doors to its 85 elementary schools. By Tim Whitnell Metroland Media Group The front doors to those schools across the region have been left un- locked since yesterday (Monday). It is the board's response to the re- cently ramped up job sanctions by the union local representing, among oth- ers, office clerical school support staff. Secretaries will not utilize a buzzer sys- tem that unlocks the front door to al- low people into the school through the front door. All other doors to the school are to remain locked during the day, a common practice for about the last two years. In Halton, the 400 members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation District 20 (OSSTF)/Office, Clerical and Technical Unit (OCTU) have been working with out a new con- tract since Aug. 31, 2014. OCTU con- sists mainly of full-time workers like secretaries, library technicians, facili- ties maintenance and accounts payroll staff, and about 100 casual workers. School office staff has become the focal point of the doors debate. "We feel that leaving the doors un- locked … is compromising our chil- dren's safety, which should never, ever be used as a bargaining tactic in these labour disputes and sanctions….," Kilbride parent Jennifer Millar Giudice said. "We really appreciate that our (school's) support staff are in an awk- ward position," said Sarah Jensen, pres- ident of Kilbride P.S.'s Parent Council for the past six years. "We are disappointed with the (Halton public) board leaving them (unlocked) and saying we have to work around it. We don't want to over- react but is it about the kids or isn't it, about their safety and health," Jensen asked. She said the unlocking of the front doors "is the most disruptive issue we've had in our school." "We have a nice community in Hal- ton. It (door locks) won't stop someone if they really want to come in, but it slows them down," she noted. New Halton public board Education Director Stuart Miller met the parent protesters outside and then invited the small group to talk inside the board of- fice with him and Superintendent Rob Eatough. Jensen said the senior board offi- cials tried to reassure them that the chil- dren's safety was not in jeopardy. She said she's still determined though to take the issue up with Burlington's MPP and the school office staffers' union. Before he met with the group of parents, Miller said there have been no safety issues brought to his attention during the first two days of unlocked school front doors. "We've had people express their concerns and anxiety and we're getting back to as many as possible…. I've also had emails from parents saying it's no problem." Miller, who just took over the top job at the board on Oct. 1 from outgoing education director David Euale, said they were only informed of the union's intention not to unlock doors from the main office last Friday. Miller, after consulting with his se- nior management team, decided later that day to leave the front doors un- locked starting Monday. He wouldn't comment when asked if there was a timetable for leaving the front doors unlocked, but did say his staff is having ongoing discussions with certain groups about the matter. In Toronto, Peel, York and Durham regions, school secretaries have not been prohibited by their CUPE union locals from buzzing people in through the locked front door. Instead, the union has instructed secretaries not to multi-task when the buzzer rings and file for overtime if the interruptions mean they can't get their work finished. -- with Toronto Star files Kilbride elementary school parents pro- tested unlocked front doors at their school and other Halton public schools as part of the school support staff union's work-to- rule campaign. Kilbride P.S. from left to right Carol Pembey-Ollerenshaw, Carolyn Slizys, Sarah Jensen and Nikki Ferreira. Riziero Vertolli photo