ONTARIO – Schools remain open for students in the Ottawa Carleton District School Board and the Upper Canada District School Board, but both boards are preparing for job action from teachers.

High school teachers in 20 public boards, including the OCDSB and the UCDSB, will begin selective strike action Monday.

While they won’t be walking a picket line, teachers will be stepping up their efforts in the face of the province’s Bill 115 which freezes their wages for two years and gives the province the legislative powers to strip them of their right to strike.

The board is not expecting a full strike, but says it would be prudent for parents to be prepared for alternate child care arrangements in case the job action is accelerated.

Teachers will be in school, teaching and marking, but wouldn’t be supervising bus drop off, lunch and hall duty or extracurricular activities.     

“We’ve been preparing for this,” said board chair Jennifer Mackenzie. “We will monitor things very closely as per student safety and make a deicing based on how things play out.”

The board could call in retired principals to help with monitoring duties if needed. If more help is needed for student safety, the board could also tap retired administrators or parent volunteers.   

The teachers union said it would keep talking until midnight Sunday night, before proceeding with job action.