Kudos to public board for nixing idea of year-round schools Needed more than ever

Re: Public board nixes call for year-round schools — Nov. 21

As a parent representative on the advisory committee looking at year-round school, I offer kudos to Waterloo Region District School Board trustees for abandoning the idea of year-round schooling and concentrating on the summer learning program.

Research shows mixed results for yearround schooling, with positive academic gains coming largely when intercession classes occur during the breaks.

The summer learning program, on the other hand, has had very positive results. Teachers choose students who would benefit and it is available across the region. It is better to expand an effective program than start an expensive new program that would be limited to one or two schools.

Other boards have tried and discarded year-round schooling, both because of cost and academic factors.

In the United States, current research on school achievement is focusing on expanded learning time. According to the National Center on Time and Learning, “it has become clear that meeting the learning needs of many of our students — especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds — requires considerably more time than is available in the traditional calendar of 180 6.5 hour days.”

It is also important to work with other agencies such as public libraries and community centres. The school system does not operate in a vacuum.

Angelica Allen

Waterloo The environmental commissioner of Ontario plays an essential role as an independent, non-partisan protector of Ontario’s priceless environmental heritage. In the age of global warming that is now upon us, the commissioner’s role is becoming ever more important. The Ford government is about to eliminate the office of the commissioner in the interest of “efficiency.” I see no real grounds for this move other than silencing an inconvenient voice of reason. The 2014 environmental commissioner’s report “Looking for Leadership” was a wake-up call in which Gord Miller set out what would need to be done to meet climate objectives and avoid catastrophic consequences in the future. Four years later, we are still looking for the leadership needed to meet the challenge.

Ontario should take a leadership role in meeting climate targets. Instead, Doug Ford has trashed the successful cap-andtrade program — at a multibillion-dollar cost to taxpayers — and he has vowed to fight the upcoming federal carbon pricing scheme in court. Instead of providing leadership, Ford is sabotaging climate objectives. In the fight for a sustainable future, the sober and unbiased insights coming from the environmental commissioner are vital. We need this voice of reason more than ever before to hold our politicians’ feet to the fire.

Emil Frind

Waterloo