CUPE Labour Action Update: Collective Agreement Ratified

To our FSD Community, 

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I am pleased to share that the collective agreement between Foothills School Division and CUPE Local 5040 was approved by both the CUPE membership and the FSD Board of Trustees and ratified on March 21, 2025.  I thank the bargaining committees for both FSD and CUPE Local 5040 for their commitment to good-faith bargaining, and for seeking a resolution that both exemplifies the importance of school-based support staff in our schools while respecting the bounds of the provincial and divisional constraints.  

With this news, we celebrate that our school-based support staff colleagues will be returning to work on Monday, March 24, 2025. 

We know that the past four weeks this has been a challenging time for our entire learning community. We thank you for your ongoing trust and understanding as we worked collaboratively to ensure safe, welcoming, respectful, and caring learning environments. 

Foothills School Division looks forward to welcoming back all team members, and to refocusing our collective efforts to the engagement, support, and success of all learners. Upon the end of the labour action, we plan to move forward with the following operational supports:

Continuity of Learning after Labour Action

• Individual students who were on an alternate learning schedule or whose families chose to learn from home during the labour action can return to their regular schedule on Monday, March 24, 2025. 
  • School leadership will be connecting with these families directly. For questions regarding the resuming of routines, please contact your child’s school principal by email. 
• We understand that some extracurricular activities and field trips may have been cancelled or postponed due to the reduced staffing during labour action. Please await communications from your child’s teacher or school regarding the status of these activities. 

Resuming Normal Operations

• All calls will be directed back to schools.  
• Please continue to call or email the school’s attendance line to report any student absences.
  • We will continue to issue a daily call out to report student absences at 9:30am, and a second notice will be issued for Junior High/Middle Schools and High Schools at 3:45pm.  
  • For concerns regarding your child’s attendance record, please contact the school directly.

Next Steps

We acknowledge that it may take time for our schools and departments to coalesce once again as a team. Please know our system is committed to working together to move forward, and school and system leaders are supporting team members through this transition period. We appreciate your participation in welcoming back our valued team members and ask for your patience while we return to our regular operations.

Yours in learning, 

Chris Fuzessy
Superintendent of Schools
Foothills School Division