As a deeply concerned member of the Calgary community, I am writing this petition due to the significant impact that the proposed 2024-2025 pilot program will have on our families and students. The pilot program will implement a late start (11 am -12) for k-12 on either Monday or Wednesday mornings. The proposed program, as it stands, will create further financial burdens for families already struggling in these challenging economic times. It will disrupt students' schedules, causing unnecessary stress and upheaval in their daily lives. Furthermore, it threatens to reduce classroom learning time which is crucial for their academic growth.

The Calgary Catholic School Board's primary responsibility should be ensuring that our children receive quality education without imposing undue hardships on families or compromising student welfare. However, this pilot program seems to contradict these fundamental principles.

According to Statistics Canada (2019), nearly 10% of households in Alberta are experiencing financial strain due to educational costs. This new pilot program could potentially exacerbate this issue by adding more expenses onto already burdened families.

Moreover, research from the Canadian Paediatric Society (2018) suggests that consistency and structure are essential elements in a child's development and learning process. Disrupting students' schedules can negatively affect their mental health and academic performance.

Lastly, a report by The Learning Partnership (2017) emphasizes that classroom time is vital for student achievement as it provides structured learning experiences under professional guidance.

Given these facts and concerns raised by members of our community like myself who are directly affected by this decision; we urge the Calgary Catholic School Board to reconsider implementing such a drastic change without thoroughly assessing its potential impacts on both students and parents alike.

Please join us in calling upon our school board representatives to reevaluate this proposed pilot program before it causes irreversible harm. Specifically we are calling on the Calgary Catholic Board of Trustees https://www.cssd.ab.ca/board and 
Calgary Catholic School District Chief Bryan Szumlas (Bryan.Szumlas@cssd.ab.ca) to stop this pilot and ill conceived thought exchange and fulsomely engage with all key stakeholders (namely teachers and parents) to discuss the issue of professional development for teachers.

Sign this petition today and please share with your network!