The Saskatchewan Ministry of Education's move to lengthen and also set a minimum standard for the number of hours spent on instruction in provincial classrooms has been fairly well received in most quarters.
Face-to-face time with teachers in public, Catholic and other private schools that receive public funding will be established at 950 hours each school year, starting this coming fall.
Marc Casavant, director of education for the South East Cornerstone Public School Division, said the move should not come as a surprise to anyone involved in the provincial education system since the subject has been discussed and debated for over a year at all levels. In fact, he noted, the recent provincial auditor's report alluded to the impending change.
"Nobody was off guard on this topic," he said, a statement confirmed by Saskatchewan's Education Minister Russ Marchuk.
"These changes will help ensure all Saskatchewan students benefit from more consistent instructional hours and will bring us in line with our Western Canadian counterparts," Marchuk said.
A minimum of 950 instructional hours was chosen to be the standard as there was a variance of approximately 30 hours among school divisions.
Casavant said that in Cornerstone's case, school hours among the 38 facilities under their jurisdiction varied between 920 and 930 hours.
"We are now exploring options, how we interpret it gives us more flexibility for setting the new schedule. We need to get 950 hours in within the 197 teaching days with no school day to be shorter than five hours. The school year can't begin before Labour Day and has to end before June 30. Those are the rules. After that, it's up to the school divisions to decide how to do it. We can sink our teeth into it because we have something to work with," Casavant said.
If there are any costs associated with extending the typical school calendar to add another 20 or 30 hours, they will be mitigated at the other end, he said. "Cost savings can be found elsewhere," he said. The additional hours will not necessitate the reworking of employee contracts.
School divisions are now working with their various employee groups to get feedback regarding how the additional hours will be implemented.
"The boards will have to vote on a calendar and they will be the ones who will ultimately decide whether there will be minutes added to the school days, or whether additional hours will be found in other ways," said Casavant, noting that traditional holiday breaks can be shortened or professional development schedules might be adjusted to accommodate the new realities.
"Calendars will go to staff and they'll do the reality check and administrators like Lynn Little, our superintendent, will come back with two or three options ... at least they'll try to provide options, and the majority vote at the board table will tell us where they want to go."
The process could take as little as a couple of weeks, or it might involve a couple of months, he added.
The Saskatchewan School Boards Association and its president Janet Foord, who is also a Cornerstone trustee, said they fully supported the move to regulate a minimum of 950 instructional hours.
Foord said they saw it "as necessary for improving student achievement in Saskatchewan."
Not only did the recommendation receive the support of the SSBA, but also that of the League of Educational Administrators, Directors and Superintendents (LEADS).
"Currently, the achievement levels of Saskatchewan students rank seventh out of 10 Canadian provinces. This is not acceptable," said Foord. That has led the SSBA, along with the government and administrative groups, to make the addition.
"Those who make the argument that it is quality instruction versus quantity of instruction are mistaken. The two are not mutually exclusive. Our question is, 'why can we not have more hours of quality instruction?' We know our parents, families, communities and province want our kids to do better," Foord said.
In the auditor's report, concerns were raised that school divisions didn't offer a minimum amount of instructional time which resulted in inconsistency. The new mandate will still give school divisions flexibility to work with local communities to develop calendars that include consistent and adequate instructional hours, said Marchuk.
Besides the SSBA and LEADS, the consultations that began in 2011 also included stakeholders such as the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation and the Saskatchewan Association of School Business Officials.
School divisions are now required to submit their calendar year plans to the Education Ministry by May 1. The divisions, in partnership with school community councils and local teacher associations, are to develop the school calendars which outline school breaks and professional development days within the framework of the 950 hours of instructional time.
