Editor,
Parents have welcomed the opportunity to give feedback on the proposed school calendar for next year; however there has been discussion the calendar presented is incomplete.
Parents are being asked to choose between a one week or two week spring break without knowing how many days of the proposed calendar will be affected by whole or half days of school time assigned to collaboration time for teaching staff.
Parents appreciate the value of extra training time for teaching staff, but they want to see what the whole calendar looks like before approving more time out of the classroom for students. DPAC's position is that minutes do not equal days.
Furthermore, spring break is a busy time for parents employed in tourist-based businesses. Any extra time away from school means that adequate safe, effective and affordable childcare programs must be available.
At DPAC's last meeting in Pemberton, two priorities became clear when attending PACs were asked for their views regarding collaboration time: student safety and accountability regarding how the time is used.
Collaboration time is created by adding minutes onto each school day. This in addition to professional development days, neither have mandatory staff attendance, but regardless are well attended.
The time is used by teaching staff to work together within a school to keep current with teaching practices and curriculum.
The present situation varies widely in our district, from Whistler schools with six days of collaboration time to some 老澳门六合彩开奖记录资料 schools finishing 40 minutes early on Fridays for staff time to teachers creating their own grassroots collaboration in Pemberton.
Teacher training can otherwise be expensive for the school district as other teachers must come in to replace staff attending training while schools are in session.
Our district has one of the lowest number of days in session in the province. In addition to the decision about decreasing days in session for a longer spring break, parents should be aware of other reductions to instructional days, (i.e. Whistler-Blackcomb's proposed 13-school-day district-wide ski program). Too many days may be lost.
Parents are active partners in these decisions, they need all the information.
Cathy Jewett
DPAC Chair
Sea to Sky (48) School District
