Public board spinning wheels on year-round schools

WATERLOO REGION — Public school trustee Kathi Smith believes it would help to teach some children year-round, rather than have them take two months off in the summer.

This would help students forget less, and it would help kids whose families can’t afford tutors, school camps and learning materials.

But the school board rejected her proposal to test year-round schooling at two elementary schools. In January, it handed her idea to an advisory committee that came to no conclusion and now proposes to spend $35,000 researching impacts.

“I think it’s a waste of money,” Smith said. “I’m really disappointed that we’ve taken this long and this is as far as we’ve gotten.”

Seeing little support for yearround schooling, Smith argues the Waterloo Region District School Board should just drop the idea and move on.

“We have a (provincial) government that’s not really keen on giving us money,” she said. “To turn around and spend $35,000 on an idea that may not get passed, when we could spend it on kids, helping them to learn, I would much rather spend it directly on kids.”

Trustee Cindy Watson agrees the board should abandon the idea and spend nothing on it. She opposes year-round schooling, saying she sees no evidence it helps and citing disruption to

summer jobs and daycares.

“We should expand our summer programs for students who struggle academically, and really zero in and get laser-focused on that,” said Watson, who sat on the advisory committee with Smith.

A handful of Ontario schools teach yearround as do some other Canadian schools.

Students attend classes for the same number of days. Summer vacation is typically slashed to four weeks from nine weeks, with vacations spread out more evenly.

Proponents argue it makes learning more even. Teachers don’t have to spend as much time catching up forgetful students.

“We forget we’ve got such high areas of poverty in this community,” Smith said.

Some impoverished children “don’t have books and their family can’t afford for them to go to camp or to do something where they’re learning during the summer. They come back having lost some of their learning.”

Critics counter there’s no proof of better learning. They say summer vacations refresh students, families and teachers. Summer classes might not be feasible in schools without air conditioning.

Research on year-round schooling is mixed.

Trustees handed Smith’s idea to a committee of 17 members, including trustees, staff, teachers and parents. This group met five times over seven months. It made no headway beyond asking for money to hire a consultant for research.

The board was to consider the funding request Monday.

“In my opinion, the formation of a committee was premature, the scope was too big and too unfocussed for a committee, and the timeline provided to the committee was short,” said Greg Weiler, local president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario.

Weiler sat on the advisory committee and said the teachers’ union has no stance for or against year-round schooling.

“Asking a committee of diverse stakeholders to recommend or not recommend year-round schooling is not feasible,” he said. “It is a policy decision that must be made by trustees.”

Parent Brent Hutzal planned to urge trustees against spending $35,000 on further study.

“There is very limited support for yearround schooling in our region,” said Hutzal, who failed to win a seat on the board in the Oct. 22 election.