It's Back To School for Students

Sunday, October 23, 2005 08:33 PM

Schools like Westwood will be open today

Students in Prince George and across the province will be returning to their classrooms this morning.

The B.C. Teachers Federation has released results of a province-wide vote on a mediator's recommendations to end the illegal strike and teachers have voted 77-percent in favour of acceptance.

District 57 Superintendent, Dick Chambers, says the buses will be running and classes will resume at the usual time. Chambers says he expects the day to go smoothly as far as parents and students are concerned, "I think it will take just a little bit of time for things to kind of settle back in, probably not a lot different than a holiday. Although Chambers says, "I'm concerned about the way teachers are going to feel about this. I think they're coming back grudgingly."

The President of the Prince George and District Teachers Association, Karen MacKay, says teachers will be nothing but professional. She does admit to being a bit surprised by the high acceptance rate.

The Chair of the District Parent Advisory Council, Jim Yurkowski, says many fingers were crossed over the weekend and there's now a sense of relief that classes will be back in session. But, he too, feels the rift between the teachers and provincial government will take a long time to heal, "I think the one thing that we've seen is that there are some really hurt feelings here. Teachers aren't feeling respected."

Yurkowski says the dispute is likely to generate interest in the advisory council's upcoming forum for candidates running for school board. The open question-and-answer session goes Wednesday, November 9th at the Prince George Playhouse at 7pm.