Trustees with the Waterloo Region District School Board will debate a proposal on Monday to test out a shortened summer break at two elementary schools.

The proposal was put forth by trustee Kathi Smith.

Smith tells The Mike Farwell Show not all students are the same.

“We have got a real variety of people in this community and we have got families that can’t afford to send their kids off to summer camp.”

The motion on the table would change the now 9 week summer break to a 4 break, and have school begin a month earlier in August.

Smith says a 2 month summer is also difficult for some families.

“We have got families that need a high school kid to look after their younger kids, so this is something that has been talked about for a while.

Smith proposes it be tested out for two years at a pair of yet to be determined schools in Kitchener and Cambridge.

A handful of schools in Ontario offer year-round school where summer vacation is four weeks instead of nine.

Monday’s meeting begins at 6:30 p.m.