On Wednesday, October 30th, a letter announcing that the decision to cancel the Wellness Week for the 2025-26 school year is being put on hold, was sent out to the R.H. King community. Unbeknownst to many, there was inaccurate information being relayed.
In the announcement, it states: “As you may know, the pilot project to modify the King calendar for three school years (2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19) was approved by TDSB Trustees in 2016. Although the pilot was intended for three years, the modified calendar continued beyond this period due to disruptions caused by the pandemic.”
A second vote was actually conducted in the 2019-20 school year and as such, the modified calendar was approved once again. This was confirmed during a recent parent council meeting, however, no statement has been issued to the community to correct the information as of yet.
Many felt ignored when the decision to cancel the break was announced. The survey conducted last school year showed overwhelming support for the Wellness Week. Even taking into account that there were students who did not participate in the survey, there still would have been over 50% in support of the modified schedule. “The feedback from parents and students [about the Wellness Week] was all positive,” shares Jennifer McLaren, mother of two students at King. “The pilot project seems to have been successful, so I’m disappointed that it might not continue.”
King’s parent council and the Board of Trustees revealed that they had not been consulted in this decision. The Kingsley Voice has reached out to Superintendent Courtney Lewis, but was refused comment and directed to Principal Catherine Chang. Regarding this, she says, “That’s why there’s a pause: because many felt that they were not consulted.”
Despite a large majority of the King community being in favour of the Wellness Break, many still have valid dislikes regarding the modified calendar. In a survey conducted by the Kingsley Voice, out of 50 participants, one expressed not being in favour of continuing the modified calendar. “My son is not concerned about the change, and we appreciate having the extra week of summer together,” shares the anonymous participant.
Moreover, Chang mentions in a conversation with the Kingsley Voice that newcomers to Canada may not be aware of the special calendar and will simply be informed that their child has already missed five days of school. She also mentions that there are many students who do not want to return home, that school is a safe space for them. As to why the decision was to cancel the break, rather than accommodate the minority that have reasonable issues with it, “That’s why there’s a pause,” she answers.
Parthi Kandavel, current Ward 20 Scarborough Southwest representative on the Toronto City Council, penned an open letter to Chang. He expressed his dismay at this decision, writing, “Changing the schedule to adhere to the wider TDSB schedule would mean taking away not just one of RH King’s most unique features, but one that makes it great. […] I urge you to reconsider your decision to override this popular and beneficial schedule and continue to adhere to the Wellness Week schedule.” Chang confirms with the Kingsley Voice that she had a conversation with Kandavel after the letter and that it was one of the factors that led to the pause.
In a conversation between Chang and the Kingsley Voice, she states, “I am hopeful that the pause is seen as an acknowledgement that we could do better.” As to how long this process will take, what it will look like, and what will be discussed, Chang herself is unsure about the moves that will be taken to decide whether the decision should go through.
In addition to the wellness week, Naiyarah Amarasinghe-Domingue, a student at King, has expressed during the last parent council meeting that she and many of her peers are worried about the cancellation of Clinic and Mentor. On this, Chang says that opinions regarding Clinic are overwhelmingly positive. While she does not believe it is at risk of being removed, she wants to keep in mind that there are ministry guidelines on the amount of instructional hours required.
Chang is looking at potentially reducing the period from 50 minutes to 40; King courses run for one hour and five minutes, ten minutes less than most other schools in the TDSB, which over the course of a week, is 50 minutes taken from instructional time. However, King meets and exceeds the Ontario Education Act requirement which states that each full credit course must have at least 110 hours of instructional time.
The Kingsley Voice will continue to speak to members that are involved in the decision-making process and provide updates as they come about.
