Durham Region secondary school teachers will officially be on strike as of Monday and all Durham District School Board secondary schools will be closed until further notice.

The board made the announcement Saturday night after the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation notified the board that their members, including secondary teachers and secondary occasional teachers, will be on strike effective April 20.

That means as of Monday, all regular instructional programs for students in Grades 9 to 12 are cancelled, along with extracurricular activities, field trips and school events.

The board said teachers may be picketing outside Durham secondary schools and the Education Centre.

Buses will only be running for elementary school students, and all Durham board elementary schools and the Education Centre will remain open.

The provincial government and the teachers’ union came to an impasse on Friday.

Items like salaries and sick leave are handled at the provincial level, while board and union district issues are looked at locally.

The union previously said it would only return to negotiations with the province and the school boards’ association when they “are ready to enter serious discussions.”

The province has said, however, that raises will not be possible and that there is no extra money.

“I’m certainly disappointed. There’s been a process of movement towards strike action both at the provincial and the local level,” Michael Barrett, president of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association, which is also at the provincial bargaining tables, said on Saturday night.

“We find it unfortunate that we’re breaking off talks, but we’re still committed to staying at the table.

The association’s biggest concern is the students, he added. “We’ll still be working to get through this process, and get our students back as soon as possible,” Barrett said.

“Our teachers would much rather be inside classrooms with their students,” stated Dave Barrowclough, District 13 president, in a message on the OSSTF website.

“But this employer’s refusal to engage in real negotiations has really left us no option. They refuse to enshrine in the collective agreement even language that would clearly enable us to improve our teaching practices. Until they undertake a wholesale change of approach, progress isn’t possible, although we will remain ready to engage in meaningful bargaining at any time.”

The union previously said that if its 2,000 teachers hit the picket lines in Durham, they would remain there until a deal is negotiated.

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With files from Star staff