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French Immersion boundary review commended by public

March 30, 2017   ·   0 Comments

By Peter Richardson

In its ongoing efforts to enhance the French Immersion (FI) learning experience and at the same time relieve current overcrowding at its existing Orangeville-area FI schools, the Upper Grand District School Board held a public meeting last Thursday to inform parents and the public of the outcome of its recent boundary review.

Staff and trustees who presented their findings  to a large audience of FI and regular-track parents in the Princess Elizabeth Public School (PEPS) auditorium found the proposals fairly well received.

There are currently about 650 students enrolled in French Immersion classes across Dufferin County, with some 102 at Princess Elizabeth and Mono Amaranth Public School (MAPS). Current enrolments see both schools suffering from overcrowding, despite the reassignment of some students, to new FI classes at Centennial Hylands PS in Shelburne, a result of the earlier North Dufferin Boundary Review and a cap of 90 JK students for 2017. This will see MAPS surpass its student capacity by the 2018/19 school year.

The review covers the area south of the newly established North Dufferin boundary and encompasses all available options. These include changes to the current PEPS and MAPS FI boundaries and grade configurations and the addition of additional FI locations, with all Orangeville/South Dufferin schools being considered. The review would not affect current regular track (English) schools.

In 2013, the Education Ministry approved funding for an addition to the Spencer Avenue Elementary School, which made the school a primary choice for new FI classes. In addition, Parkinson Centennial PS was considered under-utilized and was designated as a holding school site for 2017/18 for waitlisted students for the FI program.

The stated goals of the Boundary Review were, to relieve the enrolment pressure on PEPS and MAPS and to confirm the additional schools with FI in Orangeville/South Dufferin.

The review concluded that both Parkinson and Spencer Ave. were ideal locations for the new FI classes. Parkinson currently has over 100 surplus pupil places, is centrally located, municipally serviced for water and sewer, and has space for buses and some parking and, most importantly, the site size and configuration allows for either expansion, or portables.

Spencer Ave. ES, on the other hand, has available funding for an expansion of up to 236 pupil places, is central to a concentration of FI students, many of those within walking distance of the school, and is also on municipal services, has space for buses and the parking lot could be expanded if required.

The preferred boundary option would therefore be south of Broadway, west to approximately Belwood and Orton. This would adjust the PEPS/MAPS boundary to become south and west of the new Dufferin North boundary.

Parkinson would accommodate grades JK to 3 and Spencer would be Grades 4 to 8. These would be phased in over the course of enrolments.

Many  parents in attendance lined up at the public microphone to ask questions and voice concerns. One mother suggested that all grades at Spencer should be accommodated immediately, as under the phasing-in plan, she would be faced with her three children having to attend three different schools. The Board’s response was simply that they require time to build the addition at Spencer to be able to accommodate the total enrolment.

Another mother voiced the concern that currently her children are able to ride the same bus despite being at PEPS and MAPS and it was important to her that this would continue at the new schools. A spokesperson for the bus company replied that this was possible because the two schools’ bell times are the same, thus allowing for the buses to run between the schools. Although this could not currently be guaranteed for Parkinson and Spencer Ave., it may be a possibility.

The issue of the availability of qualified teachers was brought up by one mother, whose grade 5 daughter currently has two part-time teachers. The Board acknowledged that a lack of qualified teachers is a problem across Ontario and that ongoing recruitment is happening  constantly.

A father asked why they could not have a single FI school for all grades, JK through Grade 8 and not be moving their children from one school to another. The Board explained that there simply is not one school large enough to accommodate all the grades and having four separate multi-grade schools would see each of them being under-utilized.

The issue of a secondary school also arose and it was noted that the secondary school issue is part of a new French Review, begun in January and expected to be completed by next October. At this time, the only secondary school for the FI students is located in Erin.

Another issue that was of general concern was the problem of daycare when multiple students are at different schools and the difficulties of co-ordinating all of them in school and after-school activities and the bus schedules.

One comment from a parent of regular-track students was a compliment to the board for not disrupting the those students in favour of FI. The comment brought a few sarcastic “thank you’s” from the assembly.

Overall, the presentation and the recommended proposals were fairly well received, though perhaps from a stoic point of view,  this was going to happen regardless of community input.

The deadline for public input, to be considered in the Final Boundary Review Report is this Friday, March 30, following which the report will be posted to the Board’s website on April 7. Staff will then present it to the Business Operations Committee, on April 11, at which time delegations may be heard before the final decision is made at the board’s April 25 meeting. Delegations may also be heard at that time.

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