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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, March 22, 2012 · 4 By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Community weighs in on French Immersion process. Sarah Ecclestone, who currently has two children at Forest Trail and one at Pilgrim Wood, said only three out of the 16 individuals on the boundary review committee represented the FI community. She said in the beginning, the committee was concerned about the viability of both the French and English programing at all schools. However, this soon changed. "E-mails were sent out focusing on the French Immersion program and the negative history of the Halton District School Board," the statement said. "I felt a shift from working together to being divided into French and English concerns. As a definite minority, I had to change my focus to prevent the worst-case scenario." Another parent, Barbara Matanovic, spoke about the division the boundary review has created as well. "French Immersion is an area that can provide optional programming to families, but by forcing communities to choose between two language programs, families and communities are being divid- Halton District School Board (HDSB) trustees heard suggestions and concerns from nearly 30 parents Tuesday night in regards to upcoming elementary school boundary changes in northwest Oakville. Tuesday's special delegation meeting was held at the board -- the night before trustees were to head back to make their boundary review decision, which could effectively add two more French Immersion schools to the area. Palermo is currently a dual track school and Forest Trail is currently a single-track French Immersion school. The director's recommendation to trustees would add dual track programming at Heritage Glen and Pilgrim Wood public schools, which are currently single track English, in the coming year. Unable to attend the delegation meeting, one parent's delegation was read to the board, a parent who was concerned with the divisiveness of the boundary review "French Immersion is an area that can provide optional programming to families, but by forcing communities to choose between two language programs, families and communities are being divided." Barbara Matanovic, Oakville resident ed," she said. "Rather than having two equal program choices, some may feel one program may be better than another." She also called on the board to create permanent neighbourhood schools, saying families want to be able to choose which program to place their children in; however, they don't want to see their children being moved around from school to school. Despite what their feelings were concerning French Immersion programing, a great number of the delegates were concerned about the viability of programing in the director's recommendation of scenario 24A. The viability concerns mostly related to the addition of FI programing at Pilgrim Wood Public School, which, in its first year, would begin with 55 FI students in two grades. Of those students, 17 would be in Grade 2. The members on the boundary review committee were told that in order to make a program viable, there should be at least 40 students per grade. Liane Tautrims, who has students at Forest Trail and Heritage Glen, was among those concerned about the programming at Pilgrim Wood. "First thing being viable programing, as it remains the board's number one priority, in proposal 24A, the programming meets the definition at Heritage Glen. However, at Pilgrim Wood it falls short," she said. She recommended to trustees to open just one more dual-track school in the area in the coming year and add another dual track school at a later date, when there are more than just 55 students to open the program at a school. Beth McConnell was another parent with similar concerns. She said such a small number of students to a grade would create splitgrade classes, which are not ideal for students or teachers, as there are challenges with having two curriculums in one class. "I anticipate many parents will remove their children from FI if split classes are common place," she said. "My issue is that many students will be in a split class every year until graduation. Creating programs with split classes when nearby schools still struggle with over-capacity does not strike me as an equitable solution." While a number of parents were concerned about education quality at such small grade cohorts in a school, Kim Rougier argued the move by saying it was not fiscally responsible. "Creating mostly dual-track See Parents page 10 0 % FINANCING & LEASING O.A.C. AVAILABLE ON BOTH VEHICLES BELOW 2012 LINCOLN MKX 2012 LINCOLN MKZ 570 Trafalgar Road · 905.844.3273 · www.oak-land.com See Oak-land Ford Lincoln for complete details. Must be a member in good standing of Costco on or before Jan. 30, 2012. Oak-land Lincoln