Parents talk year-round schooling option in Langley tonight
Posted January 29, 2013 8:32 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
LANGLEY (NEWS1130) – How would you feel about your kid sitting in a classroom in August?
The Langley School District is considering year-round classes and two other scheduling options that will be discussed at an open house for parents tonight.
“One is a status quo calendar where we have a two-week spring break and a regular two week winter break,” Superintendent Suzanne Hoffman tells News1130.
“Option two is looking at an extended winter and spring break, where we will… slightly reduce the summer holiday. Option three is a year-round calendar, which is a balanced calendar. There will be three months in session, one month out of session, and that will be repeated three times.”
A final decision will be made in March. If a new schedule is chosen, it will be introduced in the 2014/2015 school year.
“We’re trying to make sure that this conversation is an education conversation,” says Hoffman. “It’s about students learning in our schools, and if there is an opportunity to improve that, is the calendar a possible means to that end?”
Proponents of a year-round schedule believe students will be less likely to forget what they’ve been taught if they have several short breaks during the year instead of a traditional summer vacation.
People who are opposed are concerned a new schedule will affect their daycare arrangements and vacation plans.
Hoffman expects to hear from parents on both sides of the issue tonight.
“It is not a predetermined change,” she explains. “We are certainly going through an open, transparent process with the community as a whole and we will see where that takes us.”
A handful of schools in the province have ditched the traditional calendar, including Kanaka Creek Elementary School in Maple Ridge, which has a year-round schedule.
Last year, the BC government amended the School Act to allow school boards set their own class schedules.
The open house will be held at the School Board Office from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Click here for information provided by the Langley School District about the different options on the table.
