School Could Start Before Labour Day This Fall
Posted February 27, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s as much a part of summer as swimming on a hot day, lazing on a beach or heading to the Ex. But now there’s a chance it could disappear and your kids aren’t going to like it.
It’s a proposal to send them back to school before Labour Day, because of Ontario regulations and a quirk of the calendar next fall. Normally, classes resume the day after the last long holiday weekend of the summer.
But this year, Labour Day comes on September 7th, meaning school would have to start on the 8th.
But under provincial law, there must be a minimum of 194 days of classes every year, falling between September 1st and June 30th. The late holiday would leave them two days short, leading to suggestions that the only solution is to send students back before the traditional final weekend blowout of the season.
Many use the final three days off as a last chance to get away, while older kids rake in a little extra dough by working a summer job right to the end. And it could throw the last week of camp into disarray for thousands.
The fears that last weekend could turn into a lost weekend has parents perturbed. “A lot of people have holiday plans over the Labour Day weekend,” notes Kristen Chewu. “People going out to the cottage. They count on that extra time. Starting school and then having a long weekend doesn’t make any sense.”
“The parents would like it but the kids probably wouldn’t so much, because it’s the end of the summer and they want to extend that,” adds Teri Wyatt.
Complicating the issue: Family Day in February, which has shaved another 24 hours off class time, and so-called PA or PD Days, which give teachers a chance to hone their skills while leaving kids at home.
The educators are aware of the problem and think it’s up to local boards to find the solutions that work best for each area. “A number of boards are treating it differently. Some are doing PA days prior to the start of school, which would not impact on the students,” explains Ken Coran of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation. “They would still be able to obviously fulfill their job requirements. Other school boards, however, are using some of those days before Labour Day as instructional days.”
And then there’s the other aspect you might not have thought of – what happens to the CNE? It closes on Labour Day and depends on that last weekend for a huge make-it-or-break-it turnout.
“For us the issue actually is more employment than attendance,” insists CNE General Manager David Bednar. “We hire a large cadre of student employees to run the fair. We’re looking at it selfishly and saying ‘please, solve this some other way if you possibly can.'”
School boards will be accepting public input on the issue by next week. A final draft calendar will be submitted to the Ministry of Education by May 1st, and you’ll know well in advance if next summer ends early or late for your family.
What Does The Current Legislation Say?
Total number of instructional days mandated: 194
Total number of exam day allowed in that total: Up to 10
PA Days: Minimum of 2, maximum of 4
Stat holidays that occur during the school year: 8 (New Year’s Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and in this case, Labour Day.) There’s also a two-week break during Christmas and another week off for March Break.
