School staff likes 2-week spring break, parents don’t

Almost 40 per cent of Kelowna area parents want the spring break school holiday trimmed to one week from two weeks, a survey has found.

But 99.7 per cent of teachers and 100 per cent of principals and vice-principals want the break to remain at two weeks.

And school support workers appear to be at odds with their own union on the length of the spring holiday.

More than 80 per cent of school secretaries, janitors, bus drivers, and education assistants want the spring break to stay at two weeks.

But their union is opposed to continuation of the twoweek break, saying it costs their members a week’s worth of wages.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents approximately 1,600 school support workers who are paid for only 10 months of the year, says 40 per cent of its members rely on the food bank to make ends meet.

“This is very concerning for the union,” CUPE local president 3523 David Tether writes in a letter to Central Okanagan Public Schools.

Tether suggests support workers are fearful of saying what they really think about a two-week break.

“Many of our 10-month employees are hesitant to voice their opinion about the extra week of spring break as it is popular with teachers, management, and 12month employees,” Tether writes.

Central Okanagan Public Schools added an extra week to the spring holiday 16 years ago. Lost instructional time was made up in part by adding a few minutes to each school day.

If the district were to return now to a one-week break, the cost of opening and staffing the 43 public schools in the Central Okanagan would be almost $700,000.

The district’s total annual budget is about $220 million.

By provincial edict, all B.C. school district’s must set their calendar for the coming school year in the spring. As part of this year’s calendar-setting process, Central Okanagan Public Schools, with an enrolment of about 22,000 students, conducted an online survey asking for public input on the calendar.

Of the 550 parents or guardians who responded, 61 per cent were opposed to returning to a one-week spring break, while 39 per cent supported the idea.

Among the 334 teachers who responded, 332 wanted spring break kept at two weeks. Two teachers favoured a return to a one-week break.

Among the 68 principals, vice-principals and other administrators who responded, every single one of them wanted spring break kept at two weeks.

Despite their union’s official position calling for a return to a one-week spring break, 82 per cent of school support workers who responded to the survey said they wanted the holiday kept at two weeks.

School trustees were expected to approve the 2020-21 calendar, with retention of a two-week spring break, at a meeting last night.

In a report to trustees, superintendent Kevin Kaardal observes that many childcare programs, of an educational and sporting nature, exist in the Central Okanagan to help parents who must work find something for their kids to do over the two-week period.