Written by Peter McIntyre  107.5 KISSFM  Tuesday, 03 July 2012 02:16

It's not known what will happen with extra curricular activities when BC schools resume in the fall. Some teachers decided not to take part in clubs or sports teams during the recently-settled contract dispute. Vernon Teacher's Association president Bruce Cummings says it will be up to each teacher to decide if they want to volunteer their time. "It's a difficult one to forecast because there's still a lot of residual bad feelings about how we're being treated, and I can't predict how teachers are going to react." Teachers in BC voted 75 percent in favour of the new deal, although turnout was a low 52 percent. Cummings says teachers are also having to deal with some uncertainty, with 106 layoff notices given out this year "So far there's about 88 positions that have been posted, so I'm expecting there will be some teachers who won't have employment next fall." Cummings says the job losses are largely due to the declining enrollment in the district. 124 fewer students are expected in classes this fall, which will result in a million dollars in spending cuts by the district. Meantime, as of July 1, Cummings has retired and is no longer the VTA president.
Hillview teacher Kevin Bader has taken over the position.