Planning for change to school year

Good Spirit and Christ the Teacher School Divisions are now determining how they will accommodate a change to the school year planned by the provincial government.

During its election campaign this fall, the Saskatchewan Party promised to mandate that the province's school year begin no earlier than the Labour Day weekend at the start of September. Legislation to that effect was officially introduced on December 13.

Many in tourism-related industries are pleased with the idea of a longer summer for students.

"The change will allow families to still travel during the long weekend in September and visit Saskatchewan attractions, events, and services," says Randy Goulden, executive director of Tourism Yorkton. "From what we've heard from the tourism businesses in the Yorkton area, this will have a very positive impact on the business that they do."

It is being left up to individual school divisions to find the extra days between September and June to make up for the extended summer break. In the past, classes often began for students in late August.

In the Yorkton region, Good Spirit and Christ the Teacher School Divisions are working together to establish a new calendar. The two divisions must be in sync, as they share most of their bussing services.

Public consultation will also be a part of the process, says Good Spirit Director of Education Dwayne Reeve.

It is uncertain so far where the extra days will be found, but Reeve says that some of them will likely come from non-instructional days: days which students have off, but which teachers use for extra training or classroom preparation.

"There's not as much flexibility as there used to be, but there still is some flexibility. I think there are some possibilities we can work with."

Traditional holidays for students may not be safe from the cutting board, either. Reeve names the February break as one that will come under scrutiny.

"That's something that we're not certain we'll be able to maintain, but if there's public interest in it then we have to look at how we can maintain it."

Compressing the school year will be a challenge, but Christ the Teacher Director of Education Darrell Zaba believes it can be done.

"I think we can make this work."