Quebec school strikes: Ped days, even spring break, could be cancelled

Making long-term plans to get out of town with the kids for spring break? It might be wise to put that decision on hold.

• Quebec public sector strikes: Walkouts in Montreal and Laval today
• Quebec public sector workers hold rally in downtown Montreal

Quebec public school officials say the annual week-long holiday could be sacrificed depending on how many days school staff go on strike. 

However, teachers would have to go on strike for many more days before the boards would consider axing the annual March holiday.

A dozen scheduled professional development days — which students often refer to as ped days or professional days — would have to be cancelled first before the spring break dates, according to Suanne Stein Day, chair of the Lester B. Pearson School Board.

The likelihood of the cancellations will increase if teachers go on strike for three days in December, which the teachers and other school staff have mentioned as a possibility. 

The LBPSB and other boards are committed to providing students with 180 days of classes, a total which has been whittled down to 177 following a trio of strike days, including on Monday and Tuesday of this week.

Teachers get about a dozen professional development days in total. The dates vary from board to board and school to school. 

Stein Day told CBC that the board will evaluate the situation further on Dec. 3.

Other Quebec public school students could be forced to endure other schedule disruptions depending on how the strike goes.

One school official said that CEGEP exams scheduled for December could conceivably be put off until January if many classes are lost to strike days.