Should spring break in 2013 be a two-week holiday for School District 57 students?
A longer holiday break could mean additional day care requirements for working parents, so the District Parent Advisory Council (DPAC) wants parents to express their thoughts on a proposal to combine spring break with the Easter holidays in 2013.
Trustee Brenda Hooker, who chairs the calendar committee, said the district has to weigh the advantages to some families who want extended holidays to travel with the reality that many parents can't take that much time off work.
"There's always the concern about socioeconomic issues and inner-city schools and it often falls down on the lines that those that can afford to would like an spring break to take their kids somewhere and those that can't, it's an issue for them," said Hooker.
Submissions can be sent through the DPAC website at sd57dpac.ca.
"Whatever the results [of the online poll] we'll go with what the majority of parents want," said DPAC chair Don Sabo.
Thirty-five of the 60 school districts in B.C. have annual two-week spring breaks, while the other 25 take one-week breaks in March.
The last time the District 57 spring break lasted two weeks was in 2007 when the calendar committee recommended exploring combining the two holiday breaks when no more than three additional instructional days are taken off beyond the traditional spring break. The proposed extended break would include Easter Monday and Good Friday for three missed instructional days.
Secondary school teachers have expressed concerns about lost teaching time in the second semester and how that will affect students being prepared for the provincial examination schedule.
"They need every day they can get," said Prince George District Teachers Association (PGDTA) first vice-president Tina Cousins. "Even if you add minutes to the day it doesn't replace a day and you can't move the ministry's examination schedule once it's set."
The PGDTA will bring its employee survey results to the calendar committee at the end of the month.
"It would be more days that [on-call substitute teachers] couldn't work and we need to look out for their interests too," said Cousins.
The proposal is still in the discussion stage with teachers, counsellors, administrators and the two CUPE unions representing educational assistants, custodians, tradespeople, bus drivers, clerical and maintenance staff. Several of those CUPE employees work part-time and don't get paid when the schools are closed.
The district calendar must be submitted to the education ministry by the end of May. Hooker said trustees won't be entering into any formal discussions to act on the calendar committee's recommendations until the March public meeting.
