The school year calendar for 2013-14 school year for Battlefords and area students has been finalized to reflect the provincial government's new directive for all schools to provide at least 950 hours of instructional time per year.
The calendar, approved by both Living Sky School Division and Light of Christ Catholic School Division, includes a school day of 312 minutes.
Randy Fox, director of education for Living Sky School Division, says the calendar has been developed with input from teachers, support staff and school community councils.
Students will go to school for 185 days. At 312 minutes per day, that exceeds the minimum 950 hours by 12.
While students have 185 days in school, teachers have 197 school days.
Teachers will be in the schools starting Monday, Aug. 26.
Students are to attend after Labour Day, on Tuesday, Sept. 3.
The calendar allows for three school breaks, one at Christmas, one in February and one in April, the week following Easter. These are days when both teachers and students are out of the school.
The Christmas break will be from Monday, Dec. 23, 2013 to Friday, Jan. 3, 2014. Students will be back to school Monday, Jan. 6.
The February break, which is made up of one statutory holiday, two days in lieu of student-led conferences and two school holidays, will be the week of Monday, Feb. 17 to Friday, Feb. 21.
The Easter break will include Good Friday, April 18, plus five school holiday days the following week of April 21 to 25.
Other days off for students will be teacher-only days on Monday, Oct. 28, Monday, March 17, Friday, March 21 and Monday, May 5.
The last day of school for students is Wednesday, June 25. Teachers will be in the school for two more days, Thursday, June 26 and Friday, June 27.
Legislative and regulatory amendments that set instructional hours in a school year at 950 were proclaimed Jan. 1, 2012. With the changes to legislation, the earliest students will begin the school year is the first day following Labour Day and the latest day in the year students will be in school is June 30.
Education Minister Russ Marchuk has said the changes will bring Saskatchewan in line with its western Canadian counterparts. The Provincial Auditor had raised concerns in 2011 that Saskatchewan school divisions did not offer a minimum amount of instructional time resulting in inconsistency in instructional hours.
