Students rally against Bill 115

by Sandee Nho

Students and teachers involved in extracurricular school activities are angry because of the provincial government’s new Bill 115.

The bill, also called the Putting Students First Act, has taken away the teachers’ right to collective bargaining. The government said this was necessary to reduce Ontario’s deficit. Teachers have responded by refusing to supervise teams and clubs, placing students in the middle of the conflict.

“We were all pretty upset,” said Bailey Penney, 17, a member of the Riverside Secondary School’s senior girl’s basketball team. “We’ve already started our season and pretty much any day they can just tell us that we’re done.”

Freshman high school students are encouraged to get involved in school activities to become integrated with senior students. Athletic seniors who are depending on scholarships to pay for their tuition after they graduate said they are also being affected. Some who have been training for years said the Bill will greatly affect their success.

“I first heard about it a long time ago,” said Celeste Alcena, 16, deputy prime minister of Riverside Secondary School Student Administrative Council. “I just thought that it would never happen to our school, and that the teachers would never stop participating in anything.”

Aimee Demeter, collective bargaining representative and English teacher at Riverside school, said teachers are beginning to fear that extracurricular activities will become mandatory in the future. She said “unqualified and uninterested teachers” might be given the responsibility of supervising clubs and teams rather than volunteering their spare time.

“I hope that the students realize that teachers love what they do, that we value the time we spend with them, and that we want what is best for us all, today, and in years to come,” said Demeter.

Windsor high school students are organizing a walkout to protest Bill 115. It is being planned for mid October.