FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 9, 2002

School Board disappointed that a settlement could not be reached
Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board is disappointed that agreement could not be reached yesterday after a long day of negotiations and hard work by both parties. While a number of issues were resolved, the parties were unable to reach agreement on the workload associated with the implementation of the Developmental Reading Assessment program.

The Board has approached the president of the local Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario to attempt to establish an agreed-upon protocol for the work-to-rule that teachers will implement on Tuesday,
October 15th.

“Our principle concern is safety of students, especially around arrival and departure of buses,” says Chris Salt, Superintendent of Operations/Human Resources. Our current understanding is that teachers will arrive at school 15 minutes before classes begin and leave 15 minutes after classes end, and that extra-curricular activities, which are voluntary on the part of teachers, will not take place.

The Board continues to feel that a settlement is possible and is prepared to return to the table at the call of Ministry of Labour mediator Bruce Janisse.

For information contact :
• Chris Salt, Superintendent of Human Resources/Operations, 966-1170 x2281
• Kerry Donnell, Communications Officer, 966-1170 x2354