On April 5, 2024, we were informed by the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF) that teachers will be withdrawing all voluntary professional services until further notice. This includes a restricted workday and withdrawal of noon hour supervision, extracurricular activities and other voluntary services.
Restricted Workday
Teachers will continue to provide supervision 15 minutes before school and 15 minutes after school; therefore,
students should NOT arrive at school more than 15 minutes prior to the morning bell and leave the school immediately after dismissal at the end of the day. Students who arrive prior to 15 minutes before the bell will have to wait outside and will not be supervised.
Extracurricular Activities
The following activities will be cancelled until further notice:- All Saskatoon Secondary Schools Athletic Directorate (SSSAD) activities
- All athletic practices and games
- All musicals, concerts or theatre performances
- Any school clubs that operate as extracurricular activities.
Noon Supervision
As a result of the withdrawal of noon supervision and until further notice, the school division cannot ensure the safety of students during lunch because teachers will not be available for lunch supervision. Every day, 371 teachers supervise during the lunch period in Saskatoon Public Schools and without teachers providing supervisory coverage, schools will be closed during the lunch period and students must go home for lunch.
For elementary schools this means:
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All elementary schools will be closed at lunch.
- School lunch period schedules have been adjusted to ensure student safety. Individual school schedules were identified in prior letters and families should follow the same schedule as on previous days when there was no lunch period supervision.
- Students that are currently transported via bus or cab to school will be transported home at lunch unless alternate arrangements have been made by parents, caregivers and families.
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There will be no bus or cab service at the end of the school day.
- Half-day prekindergarten and half-day kindergarten programming will continue but there may be slight changes to the daily schedule.
- Before and after school programs located in the school will continue to operate until further notice.
There are two learning options for students and families in the afternoon:
Option #1
Students are encouraged to return to school after lunch, at the scheduled time identified in previous letters, for in-school learning.
It is very important that students do not return to school before this time as they will not be supervised, and the school will be closed.
- If students were transported home at lunch by bus or cab, there will be no transportation provided to return them to school for the afternoon.
- As stated above, there will be no after-school buses or cabs provided to return students home at the end of the school day.
- Parents, caregivers and families will have to return students to school themselves if they want them to participate in in-school learning during the afternoon.
- Parents, caregivers and families will also have to pick students up immediately after school.
Option #2
Students may stay home for the afternoon. Students who stay home for the afternoon will be provided with take-home learning materials and resources (paper or online through Edsby) to complete at home.
- If a student is staying home for the afternoon parents should contact the school or enter the student as parent excused.
The lunch schedule for your school will be the same as it has been on previous days this year when there was no lunch period supervision. Please refer to previous letters for exact times. Having students back in classrooms after lunch is important, but this adjusted schedule is required to accommodate busing schedules, teacher lunch periods and to ensure student safety.
We ask parents to support this adjusted schedule and ensure students do not come back early.
For secondary school students this means:
- All collegiates will be closed during the lunch period.
- There will be a five-minute buffer before and after the regularly scheduled lunch period to allow students time to exit and enter the school. This means students will be dismissed five minutes early at lunch and classes will begin five minutes later at the end of the lunch period.
- Only classes that are regularly scheduled during the lunch period (e.g., choral, jazz band, driver education) will operate during the lunch period.
As a school division, we respect the collective bargaining process. Our number one priority is the safety of our students and maintaining a focus on student learning. We are committed to keeping parents, caregivers and families informed of future job action and changes to school operations.
Please watch for ongoing communication through:
- Email and letters from the school via School Messenger
- Edsby
- Updates to our division website and school websites
- Saskatoon Public Schools' social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).
