Senior staff presented New Westminster trustees at a recent school board meeting with the results of a consultation process asking elementary school parents, staff and students how they'd like to see the required additional minutes be added to the school day to make up for a two-week spring break next year.
As The Record reported previously, trustees approved trustee MaryAnn Mortensen's motion calling for schools to lengthen the school day by eight minutes in order to accommodate the new extended spring break that students and staff will have next spring.
In response to this motion, staff developed a questionnaire sheet that was sent home with students attending New Westminster elementary schools. The questionnaire asked the respondents which option they preferred: add minutes to the start of the day, add minutes to the end of the day or add minutes to both the beginning and end of the day.
The majority of respondents were in agreement that the extra time be added to the end of the day, according to superintendent John Woudzia.
"This preference was consistent for all schools involved in this process," he added in the report.
The calendar changes will take effect starting in September, and all elementary schools were required to submit their final calendars for the 2013/14 school year by June 25.
Strategic plan
With the school budget officially approved by trustees, consultations for the district's strategic plan will be back on track starting this September, according to superintendent John Woudzia.
Due to the time spent tweaking budget numbers and dealing with layoffs, consultations with the New Westminster school district's employee groups didn't happen, Woudzia said.
Trustees at a recent meeting agreed the strategic plan needs to be a priority come the fall and should be before the board by December.
Woudzia said he plans to meet with all stakeholders, including the New Westminster Teachers' Union, CUPE 409 and the district parent advisory council in September. He expects the strategic plan will be presented to the board in October.
Air-quality report
Trustee MaryAnn Mortensen asked superintendent John Woudzia if he could get a copy of Metro Vancouver's air-quality report from the temporary monitoring station set up on Queensborough Middle School this past spring.
The board received a thank-you letter from the regional authority for allowing it to use the middle school property, but Mortensen was curious to know if they'd be sharing their findings with the board.
According to trustee James Janzen, Metro Vancouver usually publishes the reports online but agreed it would be good to know exactly what they found.
Janzen said the letter, which stated "no exceed-ances of ambient air-quality objectives were observed," was vague and further information should be provided.
