TORONTO, Ont. – Education Minister Laurel Broten said she will allow teachers in two Ontario elementary school boards to go on a one-day strike Monday.

Saying that the unions had given parents fair-warning, Broten said they would be allowed to strike, however she warned that if the strike goes beyond one day she will re-address the job action.

“(The) choice to move to strike action is a disappointing development, it doesn’t move us any closer to negotiated agreements,” Broten said.

“It puts students and teachers in the middle of a disagreement the union has with this government.”

The government has the legislative authority, under the very bill teachers are protesting, to pre-emptively prevent walk outs by the teachers union.

There were reports that the premier, along with the conservative opposition, had been pushing to use the legislation.

“I was disappointed to learn that some ETFO (Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario) locals have announced their intention to conduct a one-day strike on Monday in the Avon Maitland and Ontario North East district school boards,” said Premier Dalton McGuinty.

“These actions place students squarely in the middle of a dispute between ETFO and this government — a dispute that we believe ETFO should pursue in the courts against the government, not in our classrooms against our students.”

Broten said she had balanced both the teachers’ right to strike with the kids’ needs for a stable school system, in the wake of rolling strike announcements by two elementary school boards.

“I have carefully weighed the balance of legal strike action and the needs of students and parents to have stability in their schools, these are two competing interests and we need to get the balance right,” Broten said.

There had been calls for Broten to warn the unions that they will be heavily fined and penalized to the fullest extent of the law if they leave the classroom.

There has been some speculation that the strategy of the union representing the elementary teachers is to stage walkouts by two boards in two districts every day between Monday and Christmas.

“I understand this will be an inconvenience for parents as they make special arrangements, and it is regrettable for students to miss any time learning, even a day,” McGuinty said.

“However, a legal one-day strike action does not warrant the government’s intervention.”

Avon Maitland and Ontario North East district school boards were first to officially announce their rolling strike intentions.

Related to the strikes, York region high school teachers will stop volunteering for extra-curricular activities on Thursday.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) said that York region teachers will be in the classroom 15 minutes before classes begin and will leave right after they end.

“Support staff workers will report to and depart from their workplaces at the beginning and end of their regular work hours,” OSSTF president Ken Coran said in a statement, blaming the labour action on the province’s controversial Bill 115.

“It is Bill 115 that has caused chaos in our schools – we hope that students and parents recognize that this fight is not with them, but with the Ontario Liberal government,” he said.

Bill 115 allows the government to impose a two-year contract on teachers that includes a wage freeze, halves sick days and ends teachers’ ability to bank unused sick days.

It also gives Broten the power to end a strike or lockout without debating the issue in the provincial legislature.