By Kurtis Doering

Province tables amendment to allow school to start before Labour Day

Nov 26, 2014 | 6:25 AM

The Saskatchewan Party is proposing an exception to their rule that the school year always begin after Labour Day.

It would apply to years when Labour Day falls later in the month, such as 2015, when the holiday falls on Sept. 7.

“We heard from school divisions that this was going to pose a real problem for them to try to get the requisite number of days in,” Education Minister Don Morgan explained Tuesday. “By moving back, we’ll be able to start classes on Sept. 1, and have four teaching days before the long weekend.”

Saskatchewan School Boards Association President Connie Bailey said they are required by law to provide a minimum of 950 total student instructional hours in a 197-day school year.

“So having that Labour Day start moving back in the calender made some of those parameters a little more restrictive, and more difficult to get all those requirements met,” she said.

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Bailey said the proposed amendment to the Education Act allowing for an earlier start is appreciated.

In 2011, the Sask Party campaigned on a promise that school would start no earlier than the Tuesday after Labour Day, saying tourism business suffers when a long weekend is book-ended by classes.

“I wouldn’t call it a broken promise,” Morgan said, “I think I would call this an adjustment to meet the needs of students.”

Manitoba’s school year always begins after Labour Day, regardless of how late the holiday falls.

Labour Day also falls on Sept. 7 in the year 2020.

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