Nicholas Donaldson
The decision about whether to start the new school year before or after Labour Day has been finalized.
The 2017-18 school year will begin on Aug. 29 and end on June 22 for area boards.
As per regulation, this makes for 194 school days.
The Rainy River District School Board approved the 2017-18 school year calendar at its monthly meeting last Tuesday (Feb. 7).
The decision was made after viewing the results of a survey families and staff were asked to fill out back in December.
The survey gave two choices: school beginning before Labour Day (Aug. 29) or after Labour Day (Sept. 6).
Superintendent of Education Casey Slack reported 67 percent of staff who voted did so for the early start.
He added 52 percent of parents who completed the survey voted for the early start.
Five school boards in the area meet to plan the school year calendar every year.
This is to align professional activity days for staff, as well as to ensure terms and semesters have a consistent length for students in the area.
The five boards involved are the Rainy River District School Board, Northwest Catholic District School Board, Keewatin-Patricia District School Board, Kenora District School Board, and Conseil scolaire de district catholique des Aurores boreales.
Senior administration from all five boards used the data gathered from the survey to propose the new calendar.
Also discussed at last Tuesday’s meeting was:
•a presentation highlighting the Transitions Room program taking place at Robert Moore School;
•a letter to the minister of education concerning the funding of geographically-large school boards in an effort to decrease bus ride times for students;
•a presentation on special education and the services and programs in the schools;
•board reports from the Special Education Advisory Committee, the Policy Committee, and the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association;
•the student trustee report and the chair report, with trustee comments;
•administrative reports including the director’s report, the personnel report, and the Ontario Secondary School Literacy report; and
•the annual operational plan update by Director of Education Heather Campbell, with input from administration.
