Parents, students and administrators have stepped up to ensure graduation ceremonies happen on the Coast this June, but grads are upset their favourite teachers won't be part of the pivotal moment.
"A tradition here at Chat has always been that a few of the teachers give inspiring and comical speeches and I know that we as students have looked forward to them since Grade 8," said Chatelech grad class representative Alexa Houle. "Not being able to experience that particular aspect is a huge disappointment, not in our teachers, but in the choices our government has made that force our teachers to take these drastic and heartbreaking measures."
Teachers on the Coast voted 99 per cent in favour of withdrawing extracurricular and volunteer activities in response to the government's introduction of Bill 22 earlier this year. That vote means teachers can't help with graduation, which takes place after regular school hours.
"These decisions are not taken lightly; it is a moral dilemma," Sunshine Coast Teachers' Association president Louise Herle said. "Teachers around the province are taking a unified stand to show resistance to Bill 22, a bill that removes class size limits and provides no limits to the number of special needs students in each class. As everyone knows, teaching conditions are the student learning conditions."
Herle said in many cases local teachers are helping during the school day with planning and organization of graduation ceremonies and teachers are welcome to attend the events as guests if they choose.
"I think the important message is that we are going to have really nice ceremonies, but they are going to be different without teacher participation," said superintendent of schools Patrick Bocking.
"The grads are frustrated with how the government has let our teachers' job action come this far," Alexa said. "We are disappointed that the teachers are unable to participate in ways that we feel are unshakeable traditions.
Elphinstone grads voiced the same kind of disappointment this week.
"For most of us grads, we have had our teachers with us since Grade 8 and we have gotten very close to them throughout these five years," said Elphi grad class representative Juan Francis Canlas. "They have become more than just teachers to us; they are the people we go to for advice and encouragement; we share our successes and failures with them. So to see them not participate in such a milestone in our young lives is, of course, upsetting."
Despite the disappointment both grad class reps say they support their teachers.
"We fully support any decisions our teachers make regarding job action because we know they have our greatest interest at heart," Alexa said. "It is our children who will start to rise up through the public education system in the next 10 years and the measures teachers take today to preserve quality of learning in the classroom will be the building blocks for tomorrow."
Responses from grad representatives at Pender Harbour Secondary School and the Sunshine Coast Alternative School were not received by Coast Reporter press time.
