It's official. The Burnaby school district is joining the rest of the Lower Mainland and moving to a two-week spring break, starting in the 2013/14 school year.
School trustees voted to adopt to a two-week break at the March 26 school board meeting.
"I'm pleased with the decision," said district superintendent Kevin Kaardal. "There are challenges we need to try and address with the support of the community, some of those are child-care issues and families that may find challenges in finding access, so we need to do some work there," he added. "We'll work with parks and recreation and community partners to find support for child care or recreational programs during that week that are accessible to everyone and affordable."
Kaardal said the move to adopt a "common calendar" could potentially save the district a quarter of a million dollars, and new teachers looking for work may be more interested in the Burnaby district, rather than opting for other districts that offer two-week spring breaks.
The school days will be extended slightly so that students do not lose out on instructional time.
"In terms of learning, it's not the length of time," Kaardal said, "it's the actually engaged time, so we improve the quality of teaching in our district."
Other districts with two-week breaks have not experienced any negative impacts on learning, he added.
Burnaby's two-week spring break starts in 2013/14 and is scheduled from March 17 to 28.
Burnaby and New Westminster were the only two remaining districts in the Lower Mainland with a one-week break, and New Westminster's school trustees also voted in favour a two-week break at their March 26 school board meeting.
- By Jennifer Moreau, staff reporter
