Parents’ opinions still wanted

Just 3,000 parents have completed online survey detailing potential school calendar changes for Langley

Despite a strong turn out at two open houses and a prolific stream of tweets from a small but concerned group, only about 10 per cent of parents have submitted their opinions on changes to the school calendar, says the Langley school district.

“Around 3,000 parents have completed our survey,” said Langley School District spokesman Sandy Wakeling. “We have 20,000 kids in the district, so at least 30,000 parents.”

He said they aren’t expecting 90 per cent but would like a little more input. Parents have until the end of the month to submit their input online on the district’s website at sd35.bc.ca.

But the turnout so far is still quite good in comparison to other survey responses. When the district first asked what parents thought about extending the spring break to two weeks, it saw a large response of more than 1,000 parents and students, mostly in favour.

The next time they asked if parents would like to see the two weeks continue, fewer than 800 responded.

The two open houses the district held on the three options being looked at for changes to the calendar were crowded with hundreds of parents.

Even with a smaller written response than is desired, it won’t diminish the results or opinions that have been submitted, Wakeling said.

Langley Times