HFCRD Board of Trustees Vote to Honour the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, and Make September 30th a Non-Operational Day

  Posted: September 17, 2021

The Holy Family Catholic Regional Division (HFCRD) Board of Trustees has voted to make September 30th, 2021 a non-operational day in all HFCRD schools in celebration of the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. The National Day of Truth and Reconciliation is a federal statutory holiday that was created this summer by the federal government. Since then, the provincial government has indicated that employers can decide whether to honour this holiday. The HFCRD Board of Trustees reflected and discussed whether to adopt this day, and ultimately voted to have school communities spend this day honouring survivors, their families and communities. By honouring this day, HFCRD is playing a small part in ensuring that the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process.

This change will be reflected in our updated 2021/22 school calendars and will be distributed to all HFCRD school communities as soon as possible. Since an instructional day is being removed from the calendar, Monday June 27, 2022 has been added as an instructional day for Kindergarten to Grade 9 students in order to meet the number of instructional hours required by Alberta Education. No changes to the calendar will be made for Grades 10 to 12.

The National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, a federal statutory holiday, was created in response to the Truth and Reconciliation call to action number 80, which calls on the federal government, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, to establish the holiday to commemorate the history and legacy of residential schools and honour the survivors, their families and communities. HFCRD is proud to take part in working toward this goal.