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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, February 27, 2013 · 10 Union says it's up to high school teachers to decide Continued from page 1 province-wide are expected to resume extracurricular activities immediately. Locally, that number is unknown. OSSTF ­ District 20 (Halton) president Brad Fisher said he would not speculate how many teachers will resume extracurriculars. "I think it very much varies by school," he said. The OSSTF has lifted the ban after meeting with representatives from the Ministry of Education. It is unknown what agreements have been reached with the Province. "OSSTF, provincially, feels that there's been sufficient progress for them to go this route," Fisher said. While the negotiations with the Province are continuing, there is a 60/20/20 split among secondary school teachers about extracurricular activities. Twenty per cent say they will resume extracurriculars immediately, 60 per cent are waiting on the results of the current discussions before they decide and the other 20 per cent say they will never resume extracurriculars. "As Ken Coran rightly pointed out, there are a lot of angry teachers and a lot of it is not driven by the union. It's driven by the membership," Fisher said. "If they're not satisfied with the current state of negotiations, they have every right to choose not to participate in the voluntary service of extracurricular activities until such time that they're happy with the result. Our position is that they're free to choose." Brad Fisher, president, Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF), Halton "There's this feeling that it's somehow the union bosses driving it. It's actually a lot of the members who are angry that their rights were taken away." The union's position is all teachers can choose to participate in extracurriculars. "If they're not satisfied with the current state of negotiations, they have every right to choose not to participate in the voluntary service of extracurricular activities until such time that they're happy with the result," Fisher said. "Our position is that they're free to choose." The Halton District School Board is still working to learn which activities will and will not return to local high schools. The school board recently announced it will allow volunteers from the community to be the sole supervisors of extracurricular activities. That plan has not changed, but there will be a greater focus on elementary schools now, said associate director Jeff Blackwell. "Our committee is still going to have that process for schools, particularly with elementary right now," he said. The school board is currently gathering data on what high schools are or will be running. Blackwell has asked the school principals to inform their superintendents of what is happening in their schools, and this coming Monday, the board's central committee will hear from the superintendents about what programs are running in high schools. "After I meet with all of the conveners and a couple of the superintendents, we're going to know what's happening, what people are thinking out there," Blackwell said. Blackwell said school board administration will have a better understanding of what is happening after the Monday meeting and will be able to decide whether volunteers are needed to be the sole supervisors of extracurriculars. He noted that volunteers will be welcome regardless of the outcome. Blackwell said there may be spring sports starting up and there is a chance for compressed tournaments for the winter sports. "This week is lots of conversations in schools, lots of planning and organizing of what are we going to get going with," Blackwell said. "I certainly know from some of the secondary principals I met with, there is a pretty positive tone by many of the teachers who are really glad this is back, really glad they can feel comfortable about making decisions on getting things going." Blackwell noted there are teachers who are not pleased with the current situation as well. While OSSTF has lifted its ban on extracurriculars, no such word has come from the elementary teachers union. NEW! One-Stop Family Fitness Centre 3 months for only $99 plus HST & get a FREE UNIFORM! (New members only. Offer Ends August 1, 2013) TAEKWON-DO BEGINNER'S SPECIAL 212 Wyecroft Road, Unit 26, Oakville (Just east of Dorval) 905-844-8384 · www.horizontkd.com