Rocky View Schools says there is currently no disruption to learning following a province-wide strike vote by Alberta teachers.
"A strike vote is a step in the provincial bargaining process which could lead to labour action. If the ATA took labour action they would need to provide 72 hours notice. They would have up to 120 days from now to begin labour action. We do not know if labour action will be taken or how long it could last," Superintendent Greg Luterbach wrote in a June 10 letter to parents and guardians.
"All RVS schools and facilities remain open and classes and planned activities are continuing as normal," the letter continued. "RVS highly values all our 3,000+ staff and the contributions they make to student success," Luterbach wrote. "We respect the bargaining process and remain hopeful that the provincial government and the ATA reach a negotiated settlement."
The letter said RVS is "actively monitoring the situation between the ATA and the provincial government" and will keep families informed. A Labour Action webpage on the RVS website will be updated as new information becomes available. The letter from RVS followed the announcement of the strike vote results earlier in the day.
Alberta Teachers' Association announce strike vote results
Alberta teachers voted in favour of a strike vote, with 95 per cent supporting the move in a province-wide ballot held from June 5 to 8, according to the Alberta Teachers' Association.
"By voting to strike, teachers are sending an unmistakable message: we are united, we are determined, and we will no longer hold up a crumbling public education system," ATA president Jason Schilling said in a June 10 release.
"For too long, teachers have been propping up a system that is under-resourced and overburdened. We are expected to do more with less every year," Schilling said.
Nearly 39,000 teachers cast ballots online and in person between June 5 and 8, according to the Alberta Teachers' Association.
The Association says it represents approximately 51,000 members across the province.
"About 76 per cent of registered, eligible teachers who could vote, voted," Schilling said Tuesday. "We know that not every teacher who is eligible registered to vote."
The ATA said Tuesday its Provincial Executive Council will determine next steps, "including potential strike dates and actions." However, formal bargaining with the Teachers' Employer Bargaining Association is set to resume June 19 and 20, "with more dates in August if needed."
"This would be part of the job of the Provincial Executive Council to determine next steps, strategy, and when a potential strike action could possibly happen will be determined by my colleagues on council," Schilling told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
"We, of course, have to give 72 hours' notice if any kind of job action was to take place, and we would provide that because that's the law. In terms of actual timing, I can't necessarily say right at this moment, though you have 120 days to use the strike mandate, which would put us into the fall," he said.
"Although this is happening, we still have opportunities at the bargaining table to try to reach a negotiated settlement," Schilling said. "So we will sort of work on these two tracks, if you will, at the same time."
In the ATA's statement, the Association cited "large class sizes, increasing classroom complexity, dwindling supports, and wages that do not account for these challenges or keep pace with inflation" as outstanding issues in bargaining.
Schilling said, when asked about Premier Danielle Smith's recent comments suggesting Alberta revisit its approach to inclusion, that the policy has not been funded accordingly.
"It goes directly to what we're talking about here," he said. "Inclusion has been a policy of this government for years. Yet they don't fund it accordingly. We don't provide educational assistance. We don't provide the other sort of resources that are needed to support students who have special needs."
"They like to put students in classrooms without the support and hope that they can thrive. But what we're seeing right now is a system where kids are merely surviving," Schilling said.
"We like to say that inclusion without funding is abandonment... and the minister and the premier can use [words] all they want about whether or not this is the direction they want to go in, but the fact of the matter remains is that they've failed to fund this system properly, and this is the result of that. Chronic underfunding has led us to this point."
When asked what he would say to parents concerned about further classroom disruption, Schilling said the action is ultimately aimed at improving conditions for their children.
"I understand where parents are coming from, and I empathize with them, but they also need to know that this is being done to support their students—their kids that are coming to our schools," he said.
"Teachers have been highlighting for years now the lack of resources, the overcrowded classrooms, the inability for us to meet their students' needs... our parents are bringing their most precious items to us at school," Schilling said.
"This is being done, and we're moving forward on this to ultimately support kids. And I would hope that parents would support teachers as they're going down this path to make sure that we have the resources for kids at school."
"Teachers have just indicated that they've had enough," Schilling said. "It's interesting, because Budget 2025 had a 4.5 per cent increase to the overall spending, yet operational costs—the day-to-day stuff that you would see for schools—remain the same as last year," Schilling said.
"We're short-changing kids' futures here. Teachers want to see their students thrive, and right now, they're just merely surviving," he said. "We are seeing reports from different school divisions across the province where they're using their school libraries or their learning commons as classrooms. They're using gyms as classrooms. They're using boot rooms as classrooms," Schilling said.
The Calgary Catholic School District issued a statement Tuesday acknowledging the strike vote and expressing support for its staff.
"We want to express our sincere gratitude to our ATA employees—including teachers, administrators, consultants, and supervisors—for their care and commitment to our students and school communities," the statement read.
Currently, the district reports that there are no changes to learning or operations.
The statement outlined the conditions under which a strike could proceed, echoing what both RVS and the ATA explained.
"The ATA has 120 days to initiate strike action and must give 72 hours' notice beforehand. This means that with 3 days' notice, teachers in the province could be on strike. Parents/guardians should start planning now for childcare in the event of strike action," the district stated.
CCSD also clarified its role in the bargaining process.
"At any time in this process, an agreement may be reached between the provincial government, specifically the Teachers' Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) and teachers (ATA)."
"The ATA is the professional organization of teachers in Alberta. TEBA represents school boards in the province in collective bargaining for all Alberta's public, separate and francophone teachers. Bargaining between TEBA and the ATA occurs at the provincial level."
"Teacher salaries are set through provincial collective agreements, not individual school boards," the district wrote.
The district said it remains hopeful that a settlement can be reached.
"If the ATA moves forward with job action, there could be several paths, including a work-to-rule strike, rotating strikes or a full strike. We are also hopeful a settlement could be reached before that point," the district stated.
As of the publication, the provincial government has not issued a formal statement with regard to the ATA's strike vote results.
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