Hamilton’s public school board will be seeking community consultations to test the waters on aligning professional activity (PA) days to more closely line-up with non-Christian religious holidays.
Trustees voted 8 to 3 this week to consult stakeholders about potentially using PA days or dropping Easter Monday to add holidays from other faiths to the school calendar.
The move is similar to approaches taken by other regional school boards, including the Waterloo Region District School Board, that have shifted professional development (PD) days to more closely align with holidays like Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, and the Muslim holy day of Eid.
Waterloo Region District School Board students will have the days off from school while teachers take part in professional development training.
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Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) trustee Todd White moved the motion, acknowledging that any possible changes wouldn’t happen without approval from the Ministry of Education.
“There’s something in this conversation that I think will be fruitful,” he said.
“Nonetheless, even if it’s how do we enhance our religious accommodations? There’s something to learn in having this discussion.”
A staff report did suggest some caution warning such changes could lead to a divisive debate about which holidays should be prioritized.
Trustee Becky Buck agreed with staff, and said any changes should be made at the provincial level.
“This is such a worthy conversation, but we need to be taking it to the ministry who can actually help to support us and support other boards can support other students who are underserved by the current structure of the school year calendar,” Buck said.
The timeline for potential implementation would not be until the 2025-26 school year as the consultation process is expected to happen through what’s left of 2023 and through most of 2024.
HWDSB chair Dawn Danko says there is little “wiggle room” within the 194 days of required learning between the September start and June finish to extend the school year.
She says there are “maybe” four days that could actually be moved around.
“But that’s not a lot,” Danko said.
“We do have to be mindful of our union groups, they have collective agreements that we have to honor and we do have to have professional development happen at specific times of the year.”
Final approval from the board is not likely until early 2025 with the adjustments needing approval from the ministry.
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