Wetaskiwin Regional Public Schools (WRPS) is planning to do away with all modified school calendars in the division as of next fall and parents are upset.
On March 20, the board of trustees voted to align all school calendars for the 2024-25 school year. Parents were notified on March 22.
Carolyn Schwindt, Winfield School parent council president and a member of the Council of School Councils, says everything about the decision to end the modified school calendars frustrates her.
According to Schwindt, she only ever saw one survey asking a question about modified school calendars, and there was no public discussion regarding the change before the board of trustees voted on it, she said.
“In my opinion, it doesn’t benefit (the students) in any way, and they lose the benefits of the modified calendar,” said Schwindt.
Since the announcement was made, Schwindt says the other parents and council chairs she’s spoken to all feel “backed into a corner.”
A response from Wake’s office stated while there was no public consultation regarding the calendar change, discussions on related issues have been ongoing for the past two years.
“More than 52 meetings have been conducted, addressing various topics such as declining enrollment, program equity, facilities, busing, rural sustainability, and innovative recruitment strategies for new students.
“Specific calendar discussions were conducted with school-based leaders in January, February, and March of 2024.”
According to Wake, some of the affected schools have had modified school calendars for 30 years or more.
In the initial announcement about the calendar change, the school board stated examining transportation, instructional minutes, and supervision, prompted them to “question the rationale for having numerous calendars.”
Further information provided said all schools in the division will transition to 192 days of operation, with 179 of those being instructional days, with 324 minutes of instruction per day and 950+ hours of instruction per year for K-6 and K-8 schools.
Certified staff will also have uniform work days, staring at 8:20 a.m. and ending at 3:45 p.m.
In response to a question about the affect on teachers who will now be working two extra weeks at the end of the school year, wake said, “Teachers are not at maximum capacity in terms of instructional hours. In Alberta, public school teachers are mandated to adhere to guidelines specifying a minimum of 916 instructional hours per year.
“Additional tasks such as supervision, parent-teacher interviews, and staff meetings can be assigned to teachers up to a maximum of 1200 hours. The learning calendar remains within the provincial limits.”
In response to the uniform work/school day, Wake said, “A common bell schedule is necessary to facilitate staff sharing,” adding some teachers move between schools to teach specialized subjects such as food, band, hockey and woodwork, etcetera.
“It was made clear that schools are important to our communities, and we need to do everything possible to keep schools open. As we were reviewing many operational facets an opportunity presented itself to leverage existing resources to keep schools open for an additional 10 days.”
How Schwindt sees it though, taking away the modified calendars will just see struggling rural school populations dwindle even further.
Schwindt says her family is in somewhat of a unique position. Living at the north end of the county and school division boundary, her children spend an hour on the bus twice daily.
Part of the reason her children have continued to attend Winfield School even with the longer days due to busing, is because of the benefit of the extra time off at the end of the year. Without that, there’s no longer a point in staying, she said.
With Breton School being eight kilometres away, rather than the 27 kilometres they are away from Winfield, if the division goes ahead with the change, it’s very possible she’ll pull the kids out of Winfield School, move, and have them go to Breton, their school of choice.
However, while her family is able to do that, she said she’s concerned many in the Winfield area are not in a socio-economic position to do the same.
“In such a remote area, keep taking good things away and people will go to their school of choice … it will just push people out of the area,” said Schwindt.
The threat of closure is still hanging over Winfield School as well, if the population drops below 60 students. Removing the modified school calendar may just be the what makes more parents and teachers leave.
“Everything (the board) has done seems like they’re not fighting to keep our small school open,” said Schwindt.
Benefits she’d heard touted, such as extra time for intramurals or a longer lunch period, aren’t relevant, said Schwindt.
The teachers she’s spoken to are also upset. Aligning the calendar means longer work days spent entirely supervising children, said Schwindt.
For some schools, this will mean no time left for planning lessons, Schwindt explained. Teachers will also work two extra weeks at the end of the year with no compensation, she said.
“Our very small teaching staff is being negatively impacted by this,” said Schwindt.
She added the buses have been late all year and teachers likely won’t get to leave until 4 p.m.
“To me, it’s very detrimental,” said Schwindt.
“Everything about this is a bigger question.”
In a letter to a few parents that has since been shared online, WRPS Ward 3 trustee Kyle Dorchester acknowledged there should been consultations with parents before the board voted.
“I would like to express our regret for not engaging with parents prior to implementing these changes,” said Dorchester in the letter.
“We understand that this has caused surprise and concern among the parent community. Please be assured that this decision was not made lightly and was the result of a comprehensive review of school operations, including learning calendars and bell schedules.”
According to Dorchester, the board’s “primary goal” is to improve high school completion rates. He said the division’s rate is currently at 63 per cent, about 15-18 per cent below the provincial rate.
“The additional instructional time will allow teachers to provide more learning opportunities, such as field trips, extra help, and enrichment activities,” said Dorchester.
“Furthermore, the change in the bell schedule is designed to provide a balance between structured instructional time and unstructured time for students. This unstructured time is crucial for developing and strengthening important skills related to independence and social-emotional learning.
“The increased time in schools will also allow for flexibility to implement innovative programming in our small rural schools, which we are striving to keep open. We hope to bring exciting learning and enrichment opportunities for students, potentially attracting those who have left for various reasons.”
Two of the affected schools (Alder Flats and Winfield) are in Ward 4. Ward 4 trustee Karen Becker did not respond by press time.
Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides was not immediately available for comment.
The school division sent out a letter responding some of the questions that have been asked on April 5.
WRPS has said the calendar change will be treated as a one-year pilot program.
“We will be engaging with parents in December 2024 to gather feedback and assess the effectiveness of the new calendar,” stated a release.
“We will be collecting feedback at the individual schools throughout the fall and winter next year to see if the changes are making a positive impact in the learning experiences of the students,” said Wake.