Application of regulation

1   This regulation applies to the school calendar for the 2013/2014 school year and subsequent school years.

Definitions

2   In this regulation:

"Act" means the School Act;

"day of instruction" means, in respect of any school, a day in a school calendar year in which students receive instruction in an educational program;

"days in session" means, in respect of any school, the days in a school calendar year on which the principal, vice principals, directors of instruction and teachers of the school are scheduled to be available for instructional, non-instructional or administrative activities;

"non-instructional day" means, in respect of any school, a day in session in a school calendar year that is not a day of instruction;

"non-instructional period" means, in respect of any school, a period of time in a day in session in a school calendar year during which students do not receive instruction.

[am. B.C. Reg. 203/2015, s. 1.]

Prescribed minimum hours of instruction

3   (1) Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 20/2022, s. 1.]

(2) Subject to subsections (2.1) and (3), the following are the prescribed minimum hours of instruction that a board must offer to students enrolled in the schools in its school district in the 2019/2020 school year and subsequent school years:

(a) 853 hours of instruction for students in kindergarten;

(b) 878 hours of instruction for students in grades 1 to 7;

(c) 952 hours of instruction for students in grades 8 to 12.

(2.1) Subject to subsection (3), the following are the prescribed minimum hours of instruction that a board must offer to students enrolled in the schools in its school district in the 2021/2022 school year:

(a) 823 hours of instruction for students in kindergarten;

(b) 848 hours of instruction for students in grades 1 to 7;

(c) 922 hours of instruction for students in grades 8 to 12.

(3) There are no prescribed minimum hours of instruction that a board must offer to students enrolled in a distributed learning school.

[en. B.C. Reg. 6/2018, s. 1; am. B.C. Regs. 221/2021, s. 1; 20/2022, s. 1; 64/2022, s. 1.]

Prescribed information in school calendars

4   (1) For the purposes of section 87.01 (3) (b) [school calendar] of the Act, the following information is prescribed in respect of a school calendar for a school that is not a distributed learning school:

(a) subject to subsection (3), the number and dates of the days in session;

(b) subject to subsection (3), the number and dates of each day of instruction;

(c) the vacation periods and the dates of statutory holidays;

(d) the dates of each non-instructional day;

(e) the number of hours of instruction offered to students in each grade.

(2) For the purposes of section 87.01 (3) (b) of the Act, the following information is prescribed in respect of a school calendar for a distributed learning school:

(a) the number and dates of the days in session;

(b) the dates on which the principal, vice principals, directors of instruction and teachers of the school are available for instruction;

(c) the vacation periods and the dates of statutory holidays.

(3) A board is not required to include in a school calendar the information described in subsection (1) (a) and (b) if the days are for optional or remedial learning activities scheduled during vacation periods.

Consultations

5   (1) For the purposes of section 87.01 (7) [school calendar] of the Act, a board must make publicly available a school calendar that it proposes to submit to the minister under section 87.01 (5) or (6) of the Act at least one month before the date the school calendar must be submitted to the minister.

(2) The board must provide an opportunity to

(a) the parents of the students enrolled in each school to which the proposed school calendar is to apply, and

(b) representatives of employees of the board assigned to the school

to provide comments to the board with respect to the school calendar made publicly available under subsection (1).

(3) For certainty, subsections (1) and (2) do not apply in respect of a school calendar that has been amended based on comments previously provided under subsection (2).

Amending a school calendar

6   (1) For the purposes of section 87.02 [school calendar — amendment] of the Act, a board must make publicly available proposed amendments to a school calendar at least one month before making the amendments.

(2) A board must, as soon as practicable and, in any event, within 30 days of amending a school calendar under section 87.02 of the Act, provide the minister with the amended school calendar.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply to a board that reschedules a non-instructional day previously scheduled in a school calendar if the board gives notice of the change to

(a) the parents of the students enrolled in the school to which the proposed change is to apply, and

(b) the representatives of employees of the board assigned to the school.

(4) Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 6/2018, s. 2.]

(5) Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 212/2023, s. 1 (a).]

(6) Subsection (1) does not apply in relation to an amendment, made for the purpose of complying with section 8 (2) of this regulation, to a school calendar for the 2023/2024 school year.

[am. B.C. Regs. 203/2015, s. 3; 6/2018, s. 2; 221/2021, s. 2; 64/2022, s. 2; 212/2023, s. 1.]

Form of school calendar

7   A board must use the school calendar forms published by the minister to

(a) submit one or more school calendars to the minister under section 87.01 [school calendar] of the Act, and

(b) provide an amended school calendar to the minister under section 6 (2) of this regulation.

Designation of purpose of non-instructional days and periods

8   (1) Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 20/2022, s. 2 (a).]

(2) In each of the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 school years, a board must schedule at least one non-instructional day for the purpose of providing teachers with an opportunity to participate in discussions and activities that focus on both of the following:

(a) enhancing Indigenous student achievement;

(b) integrating Indigenous world views and perspectives into learning environments.

(3) Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 20/2022, s. 2 (a).]

(4) For certainty, nothing in subsection (2) prevents a board from providing an opportunity for parents of students attending schools in the district, other employees of the board and members of the community to participate in the non-instructional day or periods described in that subsection.

[en. B.C. Reg. 93/2019; am. B.C. Regs. 20/2022, s. 2; 212/2023, s. 2.]