More days off could mean break in November for public students
Extra long weekends another idea under consideration by staff
Edmonton Public Schools could add extra long weekends or revive the possibility of a fall break because next year’s school calendar will be more flexible, officials say.
Administrators are examining how to best tweak next year’s district-wide calendar in light of changes from a recently ratified collective agreement between teachers and the school district.
The changes mean students’ school days could be lengthened a bit in exchange for more days off, said the president of the Edmonton Public Teachers Local 37.
“That could, in theory, create the potential for the fall break,” Nels Olsen said.
If schools tacked an extra eight minutes onto each school day, it would add up to an extra five days off over the year, according to a letter last week from Edmonton Public Teachers leaders in response to questions about the twoyear “revised school calendar” pilot project.
There could be cost-savings attached to running school buses on fewer days, Olsen said, though no figures were available.
Such tinkering with the length of a school day wasn’t possible before.
Previously, teachers’ instructional time was limited to a maximum of 1,430 minutes per week. That’s been changed under the calendar pilot project to a maximum of 896.2 hours per year in instructional time. It adds up to the same amount of time, but now there’s more flexibility on a weekly basis in how teachers put in the required instructional hours, Olsen said.
That means there are lots of ways the calendar could be adjusted, said school board chair Sarah Hoffman.
“The options range from having exactly the same calendar we have right now, having a modified calendar with long weekends or longer weekends, potentially — maybe a four-day weekend, who knows — to having a full week (off).”
That means a fall break could be created without giving up summer holiday time.
Two years ago, Edmonton Public Schools studied but then abandoned the idea of a fall break in mid-November that would have required families to sacrifice a week of summer holidays.
Students would have returned to school early — on Aug. 27, 2012, instead of Sept. 4, 2012 — in exchange for a week off around Remembrance Day.
A survey showed most people opposed the idea. At the time, parents raised concerns about finding child care during a fall break and that a mid-November break might disrupt student learning.
School district administrators examine the calendar every year and then make a recommendation to school trustees, who discuss the options and approve the following year’s calendar, said Hoffman. That process is just starting and there aren’t any recommendations yet, she said.
The school district will consult with the public before approving any fall break, Hoffman noted.
“We want to give parents, students and staff as much notice as possible so they can plan their life.”