TORONTO - Education Minister Liz Sandals says she's concerned some schools in Halton have unlocked their doors as part of a job action by office staff to protest the lack of a contract.
Escarpment View Public School in Milton is one of those with a sign posted saying a door is temporarily unlocked and to enter and proceed directly directly to the office.
Sandals says parents are right to be worried about the situation, and she's very concerned about the safety of students.
But the minister points out there is no mandatory, province-wide policy of keeping school doors locked.
Sandals says the Halton board did take advantage of provincial funding to install door locks and buzzer systems in its schools, and she doesn't know why answering the buzzer has become tied up in a labour protest.
In Halton schools, office staff reporsonsible for answering door buzzers and locking and unlocking doors are repsented by the Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers' Federation (OSSTF).
The Ontario government has not yet reached agreements with school support workers represented by the OSSTF or by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
