School District 27 trustees are asking for public input into proposed changes to the 2017/18 standard school calendar.
At Tuesday evening’s regular board meeting trustees voted unanimously to extend the input period to March 8 for the revised schedule, which includes changes to Career Implementation Days and the Christmas break.
“I hope there’s feedback,” Trustee Sheila Boehm said while trustees discussed deferring their decision on the school calendar to allow time for more feedback.
“It’s a good idea to give people more time to talk.”
The revision, if approved, would see the two-week Christmas break moved from Dec. 18 to Jan. 2, to the new proposed dates of Dec. 25 to Jan. 5 inclusive, giving more time at the end of the break rather than the beginning.
Another revision would be to move the Career Implementation Day at the start of the 2017/2018 school year from Sept. 5 to Sept. 21 along side a Sept. 22 Pro D Day, creating a four-day weekend three weeks into the new school year. The change would see students in session on the Tuesday, Sept. 5.
In the background information attached to the agenda, the district stated it received two letters from parents requesting the change, as well as 12 other parents during a DPAC meeting.
But not every’s in favour. One Tribune reader already voiced their disapproval of the plan.
The trustees said they would make their decision on the calendar revisions at their March 14 meeting. The deadline for the public to provide input is next Wednesday via the district’s website at www.sd27.bc.ca.
In other district news, Bruce Baptiste was sworn in as the new trustee for Zone 7 Feb. 28, replacing Joyce Cooper, while a second by-election is slated for Saturday, March 25 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. for Zone 3, the District of 100 Mile House, to replace former trustee Chris Pettman.
At the meeting the board also unanimously adopted its amended annual budget of $63,575,909.
In response to a question posed by the Tribune on what the board is going to do with the government’s new $29.4 million Student Learning Grant announced recently, Board Chair Tanya Guenther said it’s too early to say.
“We just don’t know yet,” Guenther said of the details,.
The grant will amount to $50 per student, or about $225,000, for SD 27.