S HAKING UP THIS WEEK THE SCHOOL
TUESDAY
K A M L O O P S
Tuesday, November 20, 2012 X Volume 25 No. 92 www.kamloopsthisweek.com X 30 cents at Newsstands
CALENDAR?
Dave Eagles/KTW
By Tim Petruk STAFF REPORTER
tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
T
ERRY SULLIVAN WANTS TO MAKE ONE thing perfectly clear. If Kamloops students are offered year-round schooling — and that’s a big if — it’s going to change a lot more than summer-vacation plans for families. “When you start looking at different [scheduling] structures, it starts to have a trickle-down effect in a lot of ways,” the Kamloops-Thompson school district’s superintendent, told KTW. “I don’t think parents really understand how radical this could be if changes were to be made.” In April, the provincial government enacted legislation giving more flexibility to individual school districts when it comes time to scheduling the school year. Last week, a regulation was issued, putting the calendar
in the hands of the districts themselves. Basically, Sullivan said, it’s now up to district officials to decide when the school year begins, when it ends and when breaks take place in-between — a task that had, until now, been undertaken by the province. “The only thing that’s going to be in place is the number of teaching hours,” Sullivan said. “How you configure those hours will be up to the boards.” Next year, if all goes according to Sullivan’s plan, the
‘I don’t think parents really understand how radical this could be, if changes were to be made.’ — TERRY SULLIVAN SD73 SUPERINTENDENT
Kamloops-Thompson school district will follow a standard school schedule. He said the 2013-2014 calendar has to be completed by the end of February, which doesn’t leave enough time for district officials to do their homework concerning any drastic changes. “I think it’s almost impossible to have a broad public discussion and make all kinds of changes to the school calendar and have it done by then,” Sullivan said. “We want to have a very broad discussion with the public.” That process will likely begin in late December with a public meeting. After that, Sullivan said, he would like to see the district put together “four or five different models” of what a yearround school calendar — or any other altered school year — might look like. X See MUCH A12
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