VANCOUVER - School districts in B.C. are holding off telling parents that classes will be cancelled next Tuesday as the teachers' strike continues and negotiations unfold.
The past several days have seen the B.C. Teachers' Federation and the employer meet with the education minister and a labour mediator in an attempt to prevent the strike from derailing the start of the school year.
Jordan Tinney, superintendent of the Surrey School District, has written a letter to parents, saying his district could still manage to open schools if a deal is reached as late as Monday evening.
Tinney says the B.C. Public School Employers' Association, which bargains for the government, has informed the district that the timing of school openings will probably be part of the negotiations with teachers.
The superintendent for the Victoria area, Sherri Bell, says it's unlikely that school will start Tuesday, but she says her district won't make a final decision about classes until Monday.
Districts in Richmond and Prince George also say they are not ready to tell parents what they should expect next week.
