Yellowknife (Sep 05/03) - Changes have been made to the hours of instruction at William McDonald middle school this year.

Yellowknife Education District 1 board trustees met Labour Day in an attempt to clarify exactly how school instructional hours will operate.

The major change implemented in the strategic plan is that each classroom time slot has been reduced from 45 to 35 minutes.

Superintendent Judith Knapp explained that although it appears students are losing 10 minutes, they are actually gaining time by blocking all classes, including lunch break, in 35-minute blocks.

"There has been no decrease in instructional hours. In fact, the instructional time has increased," said principal Mike MacDonald.

"The changes were done within the framework of the Department of Education guidelines."

Last year, students had 342 minutes of instructional time each day, and with the new changes, this has increased to 345 minutes.

According to MacDonald, the later start time of 8:50 a.m. is happening because lunch time was reduced. Also, it is now mandatory teachers start at 8:15 every morning, which gives them an opportunity for prep time and a chance to get together.

Another major change is Math and Language Arts will be double-blocked everyday, indicating each student will receive 70 minutes of instruction in these subjects.

The new changes were met with very few concerns, however trustee Maureen Miller explained her frustration with the lack of communication across the board.

"Process is a large part of the problem here," said Miller. "The trustees don't know what to tell the parents."

Board trustee Dan Schofield agreed with Miller.

"We are not communicated with effectively," he said, adding it is difficult to do their job of communicating a strategic plan when they are uninformed.

"I am about enhancing and advancing education."

Although the information about hours of operation came later than expected, MacDonald feels very confident that it will bring about positive changes in the school.

"The changes will sell themselves," he said.

"If the changes made don't work, I will be the first person to look for other alternatives."