Provincial exams for public school students in Grades 10 to 12 will be going ahead as planned this week, despite the teachers' strike.
In a letter to parents this week, School District 43 superintendent Tom Grant said administrators and management staff would be invigilating the tests from June 18 to 25.
He also said class marks for Grade 12 students, many of whom are attending post-secondary institutions next year, have been deemed an essential service by the Labour Relations Board.
The district is still reviewing how to proceed with processing marks for students in kindergarten to Grade 11.
Summer Learning courses continue to accept registration and Grant said that at this time, they anticipate the program will proceed as planned. Parents will be informed through the SD43 website and by letter or email if any changes occur between now and the summer.
"We appreciate that the situation is uncertain for families and for children," he said in the letter. "We hope for a resolution to this labour dispute at the bargaining table before the end of the year."
He added that parents taking their children to preschools and daycares will be permitted to cross picket lines. Those students attending secondary schools to retrieve their belongings or take part in an exam must use "picket-free" access points to access the building, Grant said. Those areas include:
Riverside: side parking lot between the gym and the sports field;
Dr. Charles Best: staff parking lot entrance at the west side of the building;
Heritage Woods: entrance at Heritage and David roundabout through the main entrance doors;
Gleneagle: entrance off Glen Drive;
Port Moody: lower parking lot and drop off area;
Pinetree: main entrance off Pinetree Way using the community centre roundabout;
Centennial: parking should be at the Dogwood Pavilion lot and entrance will be at the front of the building near the portables;
Terry Fox: entrance off Riverside Drive by portables next to the large parking lot;
CABE: main entrance;
Montgomery Centre: entrance off Kugler Avenue;
Vanier: main entrance off King Albert Avenue.
