VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - COPE only holds one seat on the Vancouver School Board, but the group is calling on other trustees to reduce school closure days.
Vancouver has ten closure days each school year; that's in addition to spring break, Christmas holidays, as well as six non-instructional days. Former
COPE trustee Jane Bouey says she voted to increase those closure days, but now feels more analysis should be done to see how much money they actually are saving.
"The reality is that it's truly adversely impacting vulnerable students the most, and particularly, poor families who are having to scramble to find child care," she explains.
Bouey argues the closure days should be cut from ten to five. That's the number seen in Surrey and several other districts in the Lower Mainland. "Once you get into the habit of doing that year after year, it becomes the norm. Instead of an extraordinary measure to deal with a year of extraordinary cuts, it becomes a regular way to fund the school system."
She also says adding minutes to remaining school days to make up for the lost time is not helping struggling students improve their grades.
School Board Vice Chair
Mike Lombardi expects cutting closure days will gain some traction as the board considers it's options this spring. "There's a lot of people who are looking toward restoring the original calendar whenever possible and working a way towards it. Going to five days might be a good, measured, practical move, depending on our budget situation."
He adds the closures currently save the district $1.4 million a year, allowing them to keep 20 teachers on staff.