The Ontario government is blaming a computer glitch for child-care overpayments that had parents questioning the province’s commitment to resolving the escalating labour dispute with teachers.

On Wednesday morning, parents were taking to social media saying they were surprised and dismayed at having received child-care compensation from the government in excess of what they expected — and which seemed to include payment for school closures that hadn’t even occurred yet.

By late afternoon, the Ministry of Education had explained that the overpayment was a mistake and the result of a systems problem that wasn’t properly counting the number of days a school had been closed by teacher strikes — and that the glitch had been resolved.

“All Support for Parents applications received undergo a verification process to ensure that they meet the eligibility requirements,” said a ministry spokesperson. “We will continue to review our systems to ensure all parents receive support during this period of disruption.”

The system data needed to be adjusted so that it accurately counted the number of days schools had been closed when teachers were on the picket line and did not double-count elementary and secondary school closures.

A ministry spokesperson said “a very small number of applications” were affected and resulted in overpayment. When asked whether parents will have to pay money back, she said the ministry is still working through possible solutions, noting that with more job action planned for next week it’s possible the math will add up.

“That is blatant incompetence,” said parent Megan Ransom, who was overpaid. “On the form you put your child’s school board and school. It is not very difficult to figure out how many days. The math is pretty simple. I firmly believe they are making excuses for their incompetence.”

Before the government clarified what had occurred, one mother told the Star “it was so disappointing” to see a deposit on Tuesday of $120 in her account, which she assumed was to cover three days of action — two of which had not yet occurred.

Her son, who’s in kindergarten, attends a public school in York Region, where elementary teachers have walked off the job once, and will do so again Thursday and Friday.

“Every week I think, ‘OK, this is it, this is the last week of strike action,’” said the woman, who asked not be identified because she’s a Toronto public high school teacher who was laid off last fall and fears speaking out could jeopardize her employment.

“But when you see yourself getting paid for future strike days you can see that the government has no intention of settling this any time soon or even going to the negotiating table.”

When the Star suggested the overpayment could be a mistake, she noted, “I don’t think so. It’s happened to so many people.”

Indeed, in recent days, parents have been on social media, expressing surprise and frustration that the government would pay in advance for strike days.

“I’m shocked,” one parent, who had received an additional day of pay, wrote on Twitter. “The government isn’t even trying to pretend they want to negotiate anymore.”

Another wrote, “It’s becoming very clear from the accounts of these prepayments, that the (government) had no real intent of negotiating towards a settlement.”

One teacher said of the situation: “This is one more poke in the eye by our government.”

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All four of Ontario’s teachers unions are immersed in tense labour talks with the province, and three have held teacher walkouts. Among key issues for unions is the government’s plan to increase class sizes and introduce two mandatory online courses in high schools, and the need for more resources for students with special needs. But the government insists the main issue is salary, noting it’s offering a one per cent increase but the unions want cost of living increases, or about two per cent.

In mid-January, as labour talks between the Progressive Conservative government and teachers unions were breaking down, the province offered to compensate parents between $25 and $60 per child, depending on age, for each day that a school or a school-based child-care centre is closed due to strike. At the time, Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the money was to help parents cover child-care costs because of the strikes — but Sam Hammond, president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, which has 83,000 members, called it an attempt to “bribe parents” for support.

The union, representing public elementary teachers and early childhood educators, reiterated that position in a statement Wednesday, saying: “ETFO has called this money a transparent attempt to bribe the public to support the government and cover up the fact that it is making massive cuts to public education.”

ETFO has been holding daily rotating strikes impacting different boards and has scheduled provincewide strikes on Thursday and next Tuesday.

As of Tuesday, the government had received applications for 342,856 children — about a quarter of the 1.45 million who are eligible in Ontario.

The province will pay $60 per day for children in a school-based child-care centre that is closed, and $40 a day for those in kindergarten, $25 for those in grades 1 to 7 and $40 for those with special needs up to Grade 12.

Jessica Lyons, a member of the grassroots group Ontario Parent Action Network told the Star, “A small, temporary help on child-care costs is not going to distract parents from the issue that this government is gutting public education.”

Mississauga mother Rachelle Manios signed up for the Support for Parents compensation program — but never actually thought she would receive the funds, which she plans to donate to her daughters’ schools.

“I wasn’t expecting anything so this is a lovely surprise,” said Manios, who has already received $120 for her daughter with special needs. That includes advance strike pay and she suspects it’s to cover three days of strikes at $40 each. But she hasn’t received any money for her daughter in Grade 7.

After learning about the computer glitch, she said, “I’m sure it’ll all get worked out in the end.”

“I can’t see (the government) going back to parents asking for money back. But you never know what they’ll do.”