March Break 2015?

[quote=“MiG”]A great example of Bike Shedding: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikeshedding

“Bikeshedding involves discussions about relatively unimportant issues which result in extensive debate. It may be the result of individuals who wish to contribute feeling that they don’t have the knowledge or expertise to contribute on more significant issues. Bikeshedding can result in discussions that, whilst on-topic, nevertheless effectively drown out other discussions on more significant issues.”

Perhaps there’s a more important and more complex issue that is being ignored?[/quote]

While the exchange between Chien22 and BTravenn is interesting, I don’t want to lose sight of the discussion on the pros and cons of extending spring break.

I have been out of teaching for six years now and my kids are all out of the system so I really have nothing to gain one way or another from the decision. However, it is a topic that is very much worth discussing even if it leads to a better understanding of the constraints under which students and teachers learn and work.

If I were still teaching and had a vote, I would vote against the extension of spring break if the only way to do so was to add a few minutes to the day. Note, I am not saying that an extension is a bad idea. Nor am I saying that adding minutes to the day is a bad idea. For me, as a teacher of an academic, content driven course with a government exam at the end of the year, I don’t see that approach helping me or my students.

But, adding minutes to a day at the expense of five missed classes could be beneficial. In art and woodshop for example where much of the time is spent on completing projects, longer yet fewer classes would work just fine. Not only do you have the same amount of time to work on projects, but the time saved by not having to set up/clean up for the five days that no longer exist can be added to project time.

That is just a simple example of how the discussion can be complicated with two teachers who want the best for their students. But I believe the discussion is even more complicated than that. As Pantagruel pointed out on the first page, we work under a model that was set up for a rural community. Perhaps we should be looking at the atomic reactor of changing the entire yearly calendar rather than tinkering with the bike shed of a spring break.

But for now I would just like to see the discussion get back to the pros and cons of an extended spring break. And before we get too many negatives, are their any Annunciation parents or teachers on here that can tell us the rationale behind and their experiences with and extended spring break.

Awesome…2 weeks off with my kids! What a better way to spend my time. I will take them places and do things with them and enjoy the time we have together. Stop all this pissing and moaning and enjoy your children. They are grown far too soon!

Do you work? Not everyone can take 2 weeks off in March.

So while Prince Rupert is considering whether or not to go to a two week spring break, Vancouver which already has a two week break is considering adding another two days of school closure as a means to save money.

cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c … -1.2544675

Sooke, on the other hand, has kept to the one week spring break for economic reasons - the impact of added child care to families.

sd62.bc.ca/News/tabid/136/En … Stays.aspx

So far, in my limited search, the only reason for an extended spring break has been economic. Other factors may be by-products of the decision, but money seems to be the prime motivator.

[quote=“crazy Horse”]

Do you work? Not everyone can take 2 weeks off in March.[/quote]

What about putting them in a day camp?

Yes I do work full time, 6 days a week sometimes 7 days, so I can have time off with my kids. Lets remember, school is not a babysitting service.

If you cant take the time to be with your kids, then maybe its time to stop having them. Birth control is a whole lot cheaper than having to pay daycare!

You must have misunderstood me. You said you would welcome another week off so you could take your kids places. Many people use their vacation days in the summer to do that and don’t have the luxury of just taking off whenever they want. So you are probably in a unique position.

Adding a few minutes a day does not accomplish anything, I’ve had kids in schools that have done both 1 week and 2 week, and the 2 week spring break is not an advantage to most families.

This does seem to be a big problem in Prince Rupert.

Five things:
The Teacher’s Union can not give the reasons for the 69% approval rating for spring break because every teacher has their own reasons for voting for or against it.

For those who want to expose their own children to life out of Prince Rupert, a very educationally sound activity, a two week spring is beneficial. When we live in the north travel times can take up a significant chunk out of a one week trip. Also, as a very single parent of one child, I feel it is important for my child to have exposure to his extended family in case something happens to me and he has to go live with them. As someone who works in a small business, there usually are more parents/grandparents who want to take a week off with their children than the business can handle. If the break is twice as long, twice as many parents can take a week off with their children.

Thirdly, those who think that Non-Instructional days are paid holidays for the teachers, please do a little research. Non-Instructional days were brought introduced in l972 in BC. The school year was extended by 5 days with no increase in pay to the teachers. Teachers who are unable to go to work do not have their pay or sick days docked because they aren’t being paid on those days. If the province decided to reverse the decision to have non-instructional days, the school year would be five days shorter.

This board cannot have a problem with extending the school day as they chose to make the middle school students attend the maximum number of minutes per day that is allowed. When all the turn around days and early dismissal in June, they attend many more minutes of school than the high schools students do. The board has never explained this decision as far as I am aware.

Wait… the middle school attends the maximum amount of minutes per day that is allowed? Are they in school until 3:45 a day? Because the Middle School is out at 2:00pm on Wednesdays as a means to help teachers prepare… this can’t be considered the maximum if all the other schools are in session until at least 2:50pm.

You are right, they were at the maximum, now they are down one hour per week. The reason they were allowed to reduce their school week by one hour is because they were at the maximum, they still don’t meet the minimum requirement.

I think a 2 week Spring Break would be great. I do work, but I certainly don’t expect the schools to provide free childcare because I have a job and it might inconvenience myself or my husband. I welcome the two weeks Spring Break, I feel that I sometimes do not get to spend enough time with my kids and would rather have an extra week to spend with them and hangout, I am not concerned about them missing 5 days of instructional time, if it really is that important than maybe cut back on PAC performances and fieldtrips. My children have a lot of friends that go to the villages for Spring Break and most of them leave a week early or take an extra week off to hang out with family and friends, you cannot beat bonding time with family and friends. Why is Prince Rupert always so reluctant for change? Maybe try something different, it is the same people making the same decisions all the time for this school district and I would have to say, maybe it is time to try something different and follow suit with other districts. Our stats on our school grades don’t seem to imply that we are one of the top leading school districts, maybe it might be a good thing, teachers would be able to take a decent vacation for two weeks and come back refreshed and pumped, not just a one week vacation and stay here because of the time frame. Students might be better rested and more willing to learn, I must say,I do pull my children of school during Spring Break for a few extra days sometimes if family has come to visit us and the cousins are here. I am not the only parent who does this.

If I get this correctly some Trustees suggested strongly and publicly that a two week spring break was something that might not be appropriate, but at the same time the Superintendent had entered into discussions with teachers to try to achieve a two week spring break?

thenorthernview.com/opinion/ … 52871.html

Interesting.

annunciation had a 2 week spring break it worked out fine for me

Annunciation is not part of SD 52. Glad that worked out for you.