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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, N ov em be r 18 ,2 02 1 | 18 The Halton District School Board held its regu- lar meeting Oct. 19 and the following are some of the highlights: The board has complet- ed its boundary review for the new 671-pupil North Oakville #4 Catholic ele- mentary school. Although approval was received for the building in October 2020, no shovels are in the ground; in fact, the board is still in meet- ings with the Ministry of Education with respect to funding, according to Su- perintendent of Facility Services, Ryan Merrick. North Oakville #4 is not expected to reach its target opening date of September 2022, but sometime during the 2022/2023 school year is possible, said Merrick. The recommended boundary splits the catch- ment area north of Dundas at Sixth Line, with all stu- dents living west of Sixth Line to attend St. Gregory the Great CES and all those living east of Sixth Line to attend the new school. Delegations about the boundary proposal are wel- come at the Nov. 2 board meeting, with the item be- ing voted on the same night. The board also released a report for information purposes for possible sites and costs associated with expanding the Community Living Class in response to trustees' request. Currently, there is one elementary classroom that accommodates six CLC stu- dents, who are in need of medical and personal care. CLC began at St. Gabriel CES in Burlington in 2001 but closed due to low enrol- ment in 2008. The CLC in Oakville began at St. James CES in 2003 and moved to St. Teresa of Calcutta CES in 2018, according to the re- port brought forward at the Oct. 19 meeting. Possible sites, excluding those which would require portables, include St. Christopher CES in Bur- lington and St. Teresa; four potential sites in Milton would require the use of two portables. Total cost of relocating the program to St. Christo- pher would be $680,000; to the four Milton schools, $820,000 and $230,000 at St. Teresa. Among the 14 potential students for the CLC class of 2022, seven are from Mil- ton, three from Burlington and four from Oakville. The addition of a second class at St. Teresa would al- low flexibility to have one or two classes as needed with less impact on a school but having a Milton school site would support the ma- jority of CLC students who are from the municipality, said Stephany Balogh, Su- perintendent, Special Edu- cation in her recommenda- tions. The HCDSB put forward its final recommendation for the optional French Im- mersion program in Mil- ton, which will alter exist- ing catchment areas. French Immersion will be offered at four schools with three elementary schools feeding into each of the FI schools. The boundaries for the FI schools, which go into ef- fect for the 2022/2023 school year, are as follows: Guardian Angels Catho- lic Elementary School: Feeder schools are Guard- ian Angels, Our Lady of Fatima CES, Our Lady of Victory CES. St. Benedict CES: Feeder schools are St. Benedict, Lumen Christi CES, Queen of Heaven CES. St. Peter CES: Feeder schools are St. Peter, Holy Rosary CES, St. Anthony of Padua CES. St. Scholastica CES: Feeder schools St. Scholas- tica and future schools in the Boyne area. Current FI students at St. Benedict, St. Peter and St. Scholastica will be grandfathered at these schools until they graduate from Grade 8. "It was a very complicat- ed school boundary review; lots of things to consider, lots of data to mull over and review, lots of great engage- ment from our parent com- munity," said Superinten- dent of Facility Manage- ment Services, Ryan Mer- rick. The preferred option fol- lowed multiple opportuni- ties for public feedback in- cluding virtual public in- formation meetings and feedback surveys. The reasons behind this choice, known as Option A2, are that it offers FI at more schools in Milton and with closer access to stu- dents' home schools, reduc- ing the need for transporta- tion, states the School Boundary Review report. Option A2 also allows students to remain at one school for FI from Grade 1-8 instead of the split Grade 1-5 and Grade 6-8 FI model of other options. Delegations to the board on this recommendation are welcome at the Nov. 2 regular meeting of the board. The item will be vot- ed on at the Nov. 16 board meeting. SCHOOL BOUNDARIES REVIEWED BY CATHOLIC BOARD KATHY YANCHUS kyanchus@metroland.com Boundary proposals will be voted on over the next two board meetings. Graham Paine/Metroland NEWS