If theres one group thats keeping a close eye on all developments related to balanced calendars, its the Richmond Teachers Association (RTA).
The teachers would be directly affected along with students and their families should any wind of change sweep through the school district in terms of changing over to a balanced calendar.
Its something that some of our members are very interested in and some are just generally interested in, said RTA president Al Klassen.
Im not sure how advanced this is and the governments move to introduce this is a little bit of a surprise.
But there is much more discussion needed on this; is it something that will work well for teachers and parents?
The RTA is represented on the school districts balanced calendar committee, so theyre well aware of where things are at with this idea, added Klassen.
Theres lots of questions and the current data is not clear in terms of whether (the balanced calendar) is definitively better.
We have two schools already on balanced calendars and it seems to work well for them. But its way too early decide if this would be a good idea district wide.
If the district was to press ahead with any calendar switch, a hell of a lot of discussion and lots of homework would need to be done to figure out what the community needs and wants, Klassen said.
I dont think anyone in the Lower Mainland has done that kind of homework yet.
Many teachers also use the long summer break something that would be cut short on a balanced calendar to sit courses at places like UBC.
And some, especially teachers at the lower end of the pay scale, use the vacation time to earn extra money at English language schools filled with visiting foreign students.
There could be less opportunity for those things on a different calendar, Klassen said.
The younger teachers, especially, have ten years before they get to the top of their salary, a lot of them need the summer to supplement their income.
