Public schools in Nova Scotia could be closed for up to a week: education minister
HALIFAX — Nova Scotia’s education minister expects public schools to be closed for up to a week starting Monday, depending on the passage of a bill that would impose a contract on the union representing 9,300 educators in the province.
Karen Casey said Sunday that she recognizes the school closures are an “inconvenience” but concerns for students’ safety have to take precedence, given what she says are the risks posed by the Nova Scotia Teachers Union’s work-to-rule job action.
“There was no superintendent in this province who could say to us, ‘We can guarantee that the child will be safe,’” said Casey. “I knew that they were nervous, I was nervous. We had to make a decision that would protect students.”
Casey announced the school closures on Saturday, sending parents scrambling to find childcare with less than 48 hours notice. She compared the situation to a “storm day,” suggesting school boards provide little more than a few hours notice when the roads are deemed unsafe for travel.