Labour Action Update: October 20, 2025

October 20, 2025

Thank you for your ongoing patience and understanding as we enter week three of labour action. There have been some developments both provincially and at the board level that we share with you today including:

• Labour Action Update
• Update to the 2025-2026 Instructional Calendar 
• Accessing Learning Resources 
• Where to find your child’s student number

As always, please first connect with your child’s school for questions or to reset your Edsembli account. 

Labour Action Continues

Learning for K-12 students remains paused as noted in the October 6, 2025, update. If you notice activity at our sites and schools, our support staff are reporting to work and are engaged in learning and other role-specific duties. School teams are able to answer your school-specific questions by phone.

In a press conference on October 17, 2025, Premier Danielle Smith suggested that teachers may be legislated back to work (link). This decision may be made once the Legislative Assembly reconvenes on October 23, 2025 (link).

Once we have further details we will inform you of next steps by email and at our website. 

Update to the 2025-2026 Calendar

We have an important change to the school calendar for the 2025-2026 year. The Board of Trustees approved this change at their meeting on October 15, 2025.

As mentioned in the October 2025 newsletter (link), a reasonable adjustment to the instructional calendar may be required to meet provincial expectations for instructional hours and our commitment to student success. As such, to promote continuity of instructional time for our students, we have designated the following previously scheduled professional learning days to instructional days, where students are expected to attend school and engage in learning:

• October 24, 2025 – Instructional Day 
• November 24, 2025  – Instructional Day
  
   If the labour action is not resolved by each scheduled date, these changes to instructional days might not happen as planned. If the labour action goes past November 24, 2025, we may need to look at further changes to make sure we meet the required instructional time.

The above changes have been made to avoid disrupting planned breaks, including Fall Break and Winter Break, so that families can continue with their scheduled plans and traditions without interruption.

In addition to the above two dates, the Division has an opportunity for teachers to engage in professional learning on April 17, 2026, that requires an additional update to the calendar:

• April 17, 2026 – Professional Learning Day / Non-Instructional Day
• April 24, 2026 – Instructional Day

We appreciate your understanding and flexibility as we work to prioritize instructional time and maintain a consistent learning environment for all students. You can find the updated calendar at our website (link) and also download the printable version (link). Please update your calendars accordingly and contact your school office if you have any questions or require further clarification.

November Diploma Exam Update

Alberta Education has shared that the November 2025 diploma exams are now optional. This only impacts students who are currently registered in quarter semester courses, and those who are currently registered to write an exam October 27 to November 7.

• Exams will be written at École Secondaire Foothills Composite High School in Okotoks on the Vretta digital exam platform.
• If you are currently registered and still want to write the exam:You can request to do so.
  • Please contact Doug Stevens, Director of Student Learning (7-12) and Assurance Data before October24, 2025 through this link.
  • Indicate whether you require any accommodations. 
  • Exams will still happen on the scheduled dates (link to schedule).
• If you choose not to write: You can still finish your courses and graduate on time. Your final grade will be based entirely on the mark your teacher assigns.
• We cannot accommodate drop-in examinations.

 
January and June Exams

There are no changes to the January and June diploma exams or provincial achievement tests at this time.

For questions, please contact Doug Stevens, Director of Student Learning (7-12) and Assurance Data at stevensd@fsd38.ab.ca.

Access to Learning Resources 

A little over a week ago, we shared the release of select core grade 10 to 12 course materials for FSD students to access during labor action. Following release, concerns were brought forward, among them the challenge of limiting access to students outside of FSD.

Unfortunately, it is not possible to restrict access in this way. We cannot share resources with Foothills families without also reactivating student accounts because of the software we use. This would create safety concerns as teacher supervision of these platforms is not possible at this time.

We understand that this may cause renewed concern, and we thank you for your understanding. We encourage families to access resources at the following links.

• The Toolkit for Parents that was developed by the Ministry of Education

https://curriculum.learnalberta.ca/pt/en/home

• Alberta curriculum and learning resources
  https://curriculum.learnalberta.ca
  
  
• Diploma Exam exemplars, examples of students' writing and practice questions
  https://www.alberta.ca/writing-diploma-exams#jumplinks-3 

We continue to look forward to welcoming our students, staff, and families back to our schools. 

What is my child’s student number?

Upon enrollment into FSD, your child is assigned a Student Number, and an Alberta Student Number. These two numbers have separate purposes:

1. Alberta Student Number (ASN): is unique to the child and follows them throughout their learning in Alberta. This number is used to set up an Education Account on Alberta MyPass to access diploma results, transcripts, and other provincial student documentation.
   • This number is required to apply for the labour action parent payment program through the Government of Alberta

2. Student Number: is unique to your child within the Foothills School Division. This number is used in your child’s division email, and may also be used as an identifier for resources such as LifeTouch Photos. 

Both of these numbers can be found at your Edsembli Family Portal under your child’s photo: