Halton looking for English-French balance

Increased student enrolment in French Immersion programs has the Halton District School Board looking into ways to balance out a decline in the number of students attending English-only elementary schools. While some parents say they want the right to choose which program their child attends, others say there should be a cap on the number of students taking French immersion. Melissa Raftis has more.

Halton District School Board Associate Director Jeff Blackwell says there is an enrolment balance issue in the board’s duel track schools which offer both French immersion starting in grade one and English-only programs where students begin to take 200 minutes of French per week in grade four. He says more families are now opting to enrol their children in French immersion: “To the point in some cases there is 100% take up. Which means we would be looking to have one of our schools have zero children in grade one English.”

To address these issues, staff has drafted a report recommending the board consider three options for schools with low English enrolment.

Jeff: “And that would look like a recommendation to run a one-two class, to run a triple grade class to perhaps redirect students to a neighbourhood school for their English program.”

Joanna Oliver is with Halton Families for Inclusive Neighbourhood Schools: “We believe that English track programming should be provided in every neighbourhood and that schools can not be closed to the children that live in their proximity.”

Parent group Halton Families for Inclusive Neighbourhood Schools says the board seems to be giving French programming priority over the English track at smaller schools.

Joanna: “What we are in favour of in fact is that core French be provided in all schools to all children. That all schools be made duel track to give parents that opportunity and students that opportunity.”

The group would also like to see the entry point into French immersion move from grade one to grade three or four. And to put a cap on the number of students allowed into the program to help balance enrollment.

But some parents of French immersion students say a cap would be taking away their right to choose how their child is educated.

Dana Said-Dennaoui is the Mother of a French Immersion student: “For us for my family that best decision was for our son to join FI and later on our daughter will do the same thing. And that’s not a solution for everyone. But that’s an option.”

And these parents say a cap would put their children’s education to chance, like a lottery.

The staff recommendations that will be presented to the board on Wednesday do not include a cap, but the parent group will be bringing their own proposal suggesting one. And parents of French immersion students say they too will be at the meeting, to ensure they still have the right to pick which program their children will attend.