Edmonton Public School Board says “no” to November break
By Kimberly Melo
EDMONTON — Edmonton public school board trustees have decided against creating a November break for students.
Trustee Ken Shipka had originally brought forward the proposal to have students return to school four days earlier in the summer and receive a week-long break in November around Remembrance Day. But he withdrew his motion, and trustees approved a school calendar without a November break at the Dec. 13 board meeting.
The Edmonton Public School Board trustees approved a regular school calendar on Dec. 13 instead of introducing a week-long break in November. Photograph by Maxwell Rausch
A survey of students, staff and teachers regarding a break drew more than 10,000 responses, which was a record.
“We had such high uptake in terms of responding to the survey that it is clear that this is an item that is of interest to Edmontonians,” said vice-chair Sarah Hoffman, who led the meeting because chairman Dave Colburn was in China on school board business. “Staff, students, families and general community members as well.”
Opinions on the matter were split almost down the middle.
“In terms of parent support and opposition, I think it was slightly more in support, but it was almost even split,” Hoffman said.
In the end, there was not enough evidence that adding a break in November would be beneficial to student achievement, Hoffman said.
“At previous board meetings we asked about any connection to student achievement and student outcomes; there wasn’t any definitive increase in terms of student outcomes and schools that did have a modified calendar,” said Hoffman. “There wasn’t clear enough direction that having this change would result in improved outcomes for our students.”
Trustee Christopher Spencer, whose Ward C includes a number of west Edmonton schools, said survey results in his area were unusual in that a clear majority of respondents opposed the idea of November break.
“Only 40 per cent favoured change (in my district),” said Spencer.
Due to the fact that the majority of supporters of a November break were high school staff and students, the board is open to considering implementing a fall break for high school students in the future, Spencer said.