Ministry rejects Ottawa school board plan for 4-day week

An Ottawa-area school board says it will not move to a four-day schedule at two of its elementary schools this fall after Ontario's Education Ministry refused to approve the plan.

In March,theConseil des coles catholiques du Centre-Est(CECCE) announced the pilot project would begin this fall atcole lmentaire catholiquel'toile-de-l'Estin Orlans andcole lmentaire catholique Saint-Rmiin Kanata, pending ministry approval.

• A 4-day school week? An eastern Ontario school board wants to try it out

Under the proposed schedule, students would begin their schoolyear one week earlier and end three days later, and spend an extra 38 minutes a day in class to make up for the fifth day.

"It will enable [students and staff] to spend quality time with family, focus on their passions, participate in recreational activities, go to appointments, pursue their studies, engage in personal projects or simply rest," the board said at the time, noting the new schedule would have been the first of its kind in Ontario and one of very few in North America.

In an email to parents and guardians on Friday, however, the French Catholic board's director of education Marc Bertrand said the plan had been shelved.

"Despite the steps taken since the fall of 2022 by the administration, and the presentation of the many benefits documented by scientific research, the school calendar proposed by the CECCE has not been approved by the ministry for the 2023-2024 school year," Bertrand wrote in French.

'Hoping for reconsideration'

He added the board is "hoping for reconsideration" to launch the pilot in time for the 2024-25 school year.

"The administration remains convinced that this innovative project would benefitthe well-being of many students and staff members, and bringbalance between the personal and academic livesof many families while pursuing the board's mission of providing quality education in French," he wrote.

Bertrand noted a "large number" of parents supported the planand had hoped to enrol their children in the pilot project this fall. That interest "has shown us that this new schedule model meets the needs of many families in our school communities," he wrote.

A spokesperson for theOntario Ministry of Education said in an email the ministrybelieves students should continue to learn in school fivedays a week with a "focus on improving reading, writing and math, and expanding mental health supports."

CBC has reached out to the CECCE for further comment.

In a statement following the board's original announcement in March,a spokesperson for Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the ministry's position was that students should be in school five days a week both for their learning and their mental health.