Amended 2023-2024 School Calendar

The School Calendar Committee for Coast Mountains School District was recently reconvened to reflect the addition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation statutory holiday recognized on September 30, 2023.

The 2023-2024 School Calendar was previously recommended by the School Calendar Committee in January 2021 to the Education Committee, approved by the Board of Education and the Ministry of Education.

In light of the province’s announcement on February 7, 2023, recognizing the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a provincial statutory holiday, the following amendments were made to the 2023-2024 School Calendar and Backgrounder in consultation with the school district’s School Calendar Committee and Education Committee as approved by the Board of Education and the Ministry of Education and Child Care:

• In 2023, the September 30 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation falls on a Saturday.  The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation will be observed by Coast Mountains School District (schools are not in session) on Monday, October 2.  The School Calendar Committee in consultation with local First Nations Education Coordinators proposed this National Day be recognized on Monday, October 2.
• Days in Session change from 186 to 185 for the 2023-2024 school year.
• Days of Instruction change from 179 to 178 for the 2023-2024 school year.
• Minutes of Instruction (minutes/day) will increase by 2 minutes for each school:
  • Elementary Schools change from 294 to 296 minutes/day.
  • Middle & Secondary Schools change from 319 to 321 minutes/day.

Please access the following links to view or download the “amended” 2023-2024 School Calendar and Backgrounder:

CMSD 2023-2024 Amended School Calendar

CMSD 2023-2024 Amended School Calendar – Backgrounder

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions regarding the School Calendar:

• The School Act and the School Calendar Regulation allows school districts to develop school calendars for up to three years, if they choose to do so. Developing school calendars takes a lot of work and consultation, so it was decided to move to a three-year calendar for operational efficiency and to facilitate better long-term planning for the school district and families.
• If a school calendar requires any kind of change the Board of Education must follow the amendment process outlined in the School Calendar Regulation. Basically any proposed change would be made publicly available before the change is made.  However, not all change requires the school district to go through a new consultation or approval process (i.e. changing the date of a non-instructional day).
• The School Act sets a minimum number of hours for instruction that must be offered to students. It is up to the school district to determine how those hours are achieved throughout the school year.  The minimum required hours are:  Kindergarten 853 hours / Elementary 878  hours / Secondary 952 hours.
• The Ministry of Education sets the number of non-instructional days. The School Calendar Committee in consultation with school district partners determine the non-instructional days.  The Committee does their best to ensure all non-instructional days are spread evenly within each calendar.
• Aside from non-instructional days being required through provincial regulations, these days provide our exempt staff, teachers and support staff with important opportunities to continue their professional learning and stay current in their practice.

Should you have questions or you require additional information, please contact Carole Gagnon, Executive Assistant at the Board of Education Office at (250) 638-4401 or at carole.gagnon@cmsd.bc.ca.