SASKATOON (Staff) – When cold weather cancels buses or causes water main breaks in schools, students don’t have to make up the day off.
The Saskatchewan School Trust-ees Association said emergency closures are counted as a school day for the purposes of the Education Act. In theory there are 197 school days in a year in the province. The students don’t have to be there since teachers’ professional development days are also counted as part of the accepted days.
Manitoba is experiencing a record number of school closures due to this winter’s cold, said Keith Thomas of the Manitoba Association of School Trustees. Some schools have closed up to six days this winter.
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However, as in Saskatchewan, the students don’t have to come in on the weekend or stay later in the day or term to make up missed work.
“In class we’ll try to concentrate on the hard core learning,” said Thomas. Instead of seeing a film one day the students will likely stick to the books to cover the subject.
Manitoba has a school year of 190 days, 10 of them as administration days for the teachers. If there is a school closure, teachers will be at the school but shift to an administration day rather than a teaching day.
Alberta requires that students up to grade 10 get 950 hours of instruction each year, said Garth Norris of the Alberta education department. If cold weather closes schools, the local boards have the flexibility to adjust the length of days or determine when to end in June or start in September.
