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8- The Oakville Beaver, Friday November 7, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15 - 9:00 a.m. th Single-track French immersion gaining opponents in Ward 4 By Tim Whitnell METROLAND WEST MEDIA GROUP TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURES During the Santa Claus parade, the following roads, and adjacent streets will be closed from 7 - 11 a.m.: · Lakeshore Road from Allan Street to Kerr Street · Kerr Street from Lakeshore Road to Stewart Street · Stewart Street from Kerr Street to Maurice Drive · Felan Avenue from Stewart Street to Rebecca Street · Rebecca Street from Dorval Drive to Forsythe Street · Robinson Street from Navy Street to Allan Street The co-operation of all motorists is requested. For additional information on road closures, contact Bob deHoog, Road Corridor/Permit Co-ordinator, 905.845.6601 ext. 3337. It's only one aspect of the Halton District School Board's boundaries review related to long-term program and accommodation in Oakville's Ward 4, but some vocal parents are letting trustees know they have concerns with the board's current delivery model for French immersion and what it might mean in their rapidly-growing part of the town. Six parents spoke separately to the board at its meeting on Wednesday and all commented on the public consultation process around the review. To date, that dialogue has consisted of a community response form that was mailed out and an interim report based on the content of the forms. After the delegations spoke, the preliminary findings were made public by super- Fireplace looking a little tired? g Call the experts. Free Santa Shuttle Don't worry about parking, take Santa's Shuttle Bus. The free Santa Shuttle runs every 15 minutes from the Oakville GO Station stopping at all regular stops along Reynolds to the Church/Dunn bus terminal. The Santa Shuttle will run from 8 to 11:15 a.m. Please note that for safety reasons children must be removed from strollers and/or wagons while on the bus. Strollers must be folded and wagons put in an upright position. To ensure emergency vehicle and public access, visibility and traffic flow, residents and visitors are asked to adhere to parking regulations during the parade. For more information on the Oakville Santa Claus Parade visit: www.oakvillesantaclausparade.ca or leave a message at: 905 815-5981 The Regional Municipality of Halton www.halton.ca "MASONRY & FIREPLACE DESIGN SPECIALISTS" w w w. c o b b l e s t o n e m b e r s . c a 406 SPEERS RD., OAKVILLE ACROSS FROM RONA LANSING 905-337-2066 As our Canadian soldiers continue to face adversity abroad, it becomes more important that we remember predecessors made. Halton Region pays tribute to those men and women who put their lives in jeopardy in order to protect the peace and freedom we cherish. 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The parent delegations were supposed to comment on the consultation process, but most added their opinions about school program options or changes. The parents had shared concerns about single-track versus dual-track French immersion. Dual track schools have French immersion and English-language students co-existing; single-track schools have only French immersion or English students. It is the single-track French immersion model that is worrying the parents, who spoke to the board on Wednesday. The board has four single-track French immersion schools -- Sunningdale, Forest Trail, Munn's and Pine Grove -- all of them in Oakville. "We cannot and do not support the current delivery model for French immersion in a single-track French immersion school as a result of the discriminatory effect it has on English Language Learners (ELL, formerly English as a Second Language) and special needs children," Ward 4 parent Deborah McInnes said in her five-page submission to trustees. The parents advocated for dual-track French immersion only, capping the number of French immersion students at a school and looking at alternative models to the existing board practice of 50 per cent English and 50 per cent French instruction for immersion students, such as the 80 per cent French, 20 per cent English model. McInnes made several sweeping recommendations to trustees. "Our first priority must be to meet the needs of our walk-to neighbourhood, English-track students... including core French students, ELL and special needs students. The needs of these students must be given priority in terms of funding, accommodations and programming." McInnes called for all of the board's French immersion programs to be dual track, that immersion students be selected by lottery and/or by successfully completing a French proficiency test, that the program be capped to allow ELL and special needs students to attend their home school and that immersion only be offered in schools with excess classroom space. Andrea Crozier-Lepp, another Ward 4 parent, also spoke to trustees Wednesday. In her written submission, she asked why Oakville trustees Don Vrooman, Bruce Jones and Kathryn BatemanOlmstead have referred to single-track French immersion as the best model. She suggested French immersion should only be offered in dual-track schools with a capped enrolment with the gradual conversion of all four single-track French immersion schools to dual track. Crozier-Lepp also asked the board to provide the public with any studies or research that show the Halton board's 50/50 French immersion delivery model is better than the 80/20 and that students in single-track immersion schools do better than those in dual-track ones. As part of the consultation in Ward 4, the board has organized focus groups consisting of parents and community members. More than 250 focus group forms were received by the board. An independent facilitator has been hired by the board to oversee five focus group sessions. The first one was held Nov. 4 with another held last night (Thursday). Two are set for Nov. 10 and another on Nov. 12. Dyson expects to submit her final report on the Ward 4 consultation process to Joudrie by mid-December. The process is to be completed by January 2009.