The Calgary Board of Education (CBE) will be eliminating full-year schooling and hold a fall break during the 2023-2024 academic year. .CBE schools operating on the modified school calendar will be transitioned to the traditional one starting in the 2023-2024 academic year, according to a Thursday statement. .The statement said the CBE will be offering a fall break with more consecutive days off than provided under the traditional calendar to support student and staff well-being. It said the fall break will run from November 9 to 14. .This decision means most schools will be operating on the traditional calendar starting next fall. Unique schools will not be affected by this change and can continue to operate on the calendar best meeting the needs of their students. .The statement went on to say there will be benefits to operating on one calendar for most schools. It acknowledged students will have greater access to language and alternative programs operating under the traditional calendar. .Families will experience fewer scheduling challenges from children attending schools operating on two different calendars. There will be improved efficiencies and reduced operational challenges across the CBE. .The CBE began gathering feedback on transitioning 28 schools operating under the modified calendar to the traditional one in September. .Changes to attendance areas and school programming made maintaining two calendars challenging for families and operations over the years. .People were invited to share their perspectives on the change..The survey found large support for this decision. It said 73% of parents and students and 60% of staff affected by this change indicated it would work well or be OK. .Almost three-quarters of parents and students and 58% of staff affected by the change said September 2023 is a reasonable time frame for enacting it. The majority of respondents said cost savings should be considered with other factors or should be a significant one in decision making. .The statement said the feedback was one factor in decision making. It added other factors considered were equitable access to programming for all students and alignment with other programming and operational requirements..The factors were identified after an analysis showed the modified calendar does not result in higher student achievement or attendance rates.
