Report cards being sent out later this month in Tri-City public schools will contain little information besides attendance, except for Grade 12 students who need letter grades to graduate and apply for scholarships and post-secondary education.
But parents shouldn't be left totally in the dark about their child's progress during the BC Teachers' Federation job action. In recent weeks, teachers should have been letting parents know about classroom performance and responding to inquiries during an informal reporting period that recently concluded.
If parents want more information or still haven't heard anything, they should contact their child's teachers, suggested School District 43 Tom Grant.
"I'm hearing that parents are either getting interim phone calls, emails and, if not, if requested, the response is pretty quick," Grant said.
Informal report cards containing comments are typically sent out in early November but weren't this year because of teacher job action. Still, Grant said teachers continue to assess students, keep track of marks and contact parents if there are problems.
"I think we're fairly lucky in our district in that I think teachers are taking their responsibility to prepare, plan, instruct, assess and communicate pretty seriously," Grant said.
He said he hasn't heard any complaints from parents about lack of communication of student progress but decided to publish a letter to parents on the school district's website (www.sd43.bc.ca) last week explaining the reporting process so parents know what to expect.
The next major reporting period is the one before the winter break and Grant said he expects Grade 12 students to get a full accounting of their marks because they need this information for graduation.
"The teachers, through their union, have assured us that they will follow the labour relations board ruling," Grant said.
As well, students will get marks if a course is taught by a principal or vice-principal.
In most cases, however, report cards will contain only contain attendance information and teacher names. For example, report cards for the youngest students will be mostly blank because they are typically anecdotal and can't be written without teacher involvement.
B.C. public school teachers have refused to do report cards after voting in favour of job action this summer to back contract demands. Still, report cards will be prepared by principals and vice-principals because they are required by law.
Meanwhile, students get an extra day off on the Remembrance Day long weekend as SD43 schools are closed Monday, Nov. 14 as a budget-balancing effort.
The district expects to save money by not hiring on that day teachers on call to fill in for sick teachers.
The district is also extending the 2012 spring break for the same reason. School days were extended to make up the lost days.
