UCDSB to close schools if CUPE strike begins Monday

BROCKVILLE – Students attending UCDSB schools across Eastern Ontario will have to wait until Monday morning (Oct. 7) to learn if they will be going to school that day.nnTrustees of the Upper Canada District School Board met tonight (Oct. 3) for a special board meeting to discuss the impact of the looming CUPE strike action. At the end of the meeting, it was decided that officials would make the call to close schools Friday morning.nnLess than two hours later, Parents received an email from the UCDSB stating that the board will not be able to operate if the CUPE strike action proceeds.nn“We will need to close all of our schools to students,” said UCDSB communications officer Mark Calder.nnAll school care programs, including before and after school programming, will be canceled. Third-party daycares that operate in UCDSB facilities are not affected by the potential CUPE strike action.nnCalder said that the board will confirm the status of UCDSB schools by Monday, October 7 at 6:15 a.m., using the same procedures the board uses in the event of a snow day.nnThe board said that 40 per cent of its employees are represented by CUPE. The union’s provincial bargaining unit served notice on Wednesday that it will strike starting Monday.nnThe Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario announced earlier in the day that it will cancel schools on Monday if strike action. French-Public and French-Catholic school boards in the region are not affected by the CUPE job action. Many school boards across the province have been announcing that they will close schools on Monday if the strike action proceeds.