Fredericton mother of 5 says change to length of school day will have unintended impact

Fredericton's Lily Smallwood says the provincial government's decision to add time to the school day for the youngest students is creating the opposite situation for those in the upper elementary grades.

Smallwood has five children — four in the public school system — and she said their new September schedules change everything.

"I understand the reasons behind it. I just don't know if the benefit for K-2 justifies such a drastic change," she said.

Earlier in the year, the New Brunswick government wrote a letter to school districts informing them that beginning in September, kindergarten to Grade 2 students will be dismissed one hour later than they are now, bringing the younger students in line with students in grades 3 to 8.

One of Smallwood's children will be entering Grade 4 at Garden Creek School this fall, and she was surprised to see that his day will be shorter than it was this year because of the change. 

Students in Fredericton have a half day on Wednesdays and students in Oromocto have a half day on Fridays, but for all other days of the week at Garden Creek, K-5 students will start school at 8:10 a.m. and dismiss at 2:30 p.m.

"In order to expand the learning time for K-2s, they're actually going to be reducing in-class time for the grades three, four and five students," said Smallwood.

WATCH |  'I just don't know if the benefit for K-2 justifies such a drastic change':

She also said that age group encompasses the students who were affected by COVID-19 lockdowns in their early educational years.

So she worries about that setback, coupled with the decreased learning time, starting next year.

Smallwood recalled as well that her own children were already exhausted and falling asleep on the bus ride home when they were in K-2, even without the extra hour. 

Transportation concerns key 

David McTimoney, the Anglophone West superintendent, said the district was tasked with adjusting times based on the collective agreement, which defines the amount of instructional time required per day. Whenever possible, the district likes to go with the maximum time in the acceptable range, he said, but that wasn't possible for about one-third of schools this year.

McTimoney said the schedule changes came from determining how it would be possible to get everyone home by bus efficiently. 

"We didn't see that significant shift outside of Fredericton and Oromocto because those bus schedules were already working quite well," he said.

McTimoney said he understands that some families will find the shift impacts their family routines but in the end, the schedules had to "live up to the responsibilities that are defined in the Education Act and the corresponding regulations regarding our responsibility to transport kids."

CBC News requested an interview with Education Minister Bill Hogan, but one was not granted. A spokesperson also did not provide an answer to specific questions via email.

Middle, high school challenges

Smallwood's family routine will change in September, and her concerns are not only about her elementary child.

Like other parents interview by CBC News in April, she has middle and high schoolers who will be affected. Her two children at George Street Middle School will begin school nearly an hour later in the fall, at 9:20 a.m.

That will mean a dismissal time of 3:40 p.m., and her Fredericton High School child will be dismissed at 4:10 p.m. With this change, she said her older kids won't be able to be home to greet the youngest off the bus, and her family will need to look into afterschool care, which will add a financial burden.

Smallwood is graduating from the licensed practical nurse program at the New Brunswick Community College and is ready to enter the workforce, but because of the change, she said she will face limited work options. 

"I wonder how many other people are in the same situation as me, who are questioning what they can do for employment and still balance afterschool care for their kids, because now those needs have changed so dramatically."

Smallwood said her high schooler expressed concern to her about the school's drama program. She said she worries that with the later end to the day, not as many teachers will have the ability to stay late for full extracurricular activities without interrupting dinner or bedtime routines in their own families.

McTimoney said the reason for the drastic schedule changes come down to transportation. He said the transportation team noted that if they wanted to keep the status quo of the current schedule, the district would require 18 new buses and drivers,

"A bus is approximately $130,000, then there's a driver's salary," he said. 

"The cost is one side of that discussion, but then finding an additional 18 drivers — when we continue to work every day to ensure our current bus runs are operational — would be a challenge that we wouldn't be able to overcome, even if the money was there."

McTimoney said the district has tried to limit problems on the morning side of things by making sure that in Oromocto and Fredericton, middle and high schools will have supervision beginning no later than 8:20. 

Smallwood said she understands that the K-2 change was piloted in several schools across the province, "but in Fredericton, we are not staffed with buses to handle this change right now."

She has talked to other parents with similar concerns, and she plans to send a letter with signatures to the district and the Department of Education.

"We've expressed our concerns to the school, but the school has responded and said, 'This is not our decision,'" she said.

"That's why I'm writing my email higher up … because this is something that shouldn't be ignored. 

"We can't cause such upheaval for parents, for working families and for all these students."