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"Good old days" Made for SENIORS! *Some conditions may apply. French immersion pro- gramming is in demand, both locally and national- ly. Over 1 million students are enrolled in French pro- gramming across Ontario -- including many in Hal- ton Hills -- and the popu- larity of the immersion program has surpassed the ability of many boards to meet demand. In an effort to make ac- cess to the program fair, the Halton Catholic Dis- trict School Board uses a lottery system wherein students are allowed into the program's limited number of spots through a random selection process. The policy has created a situation where some fam- ilies have left the board, while others have had their children separated into different schools. Oth- ers are simply denied ac- cess to the program. "We've often said there's a loser and a winner. It's terrible -- especially for siblings. As a parent, you want to provide both kids with the same opportunity and to deny one is heart- breaking to a parent," said Natalie Cambone, who has one child in the program and another one who she plans to apply to enter it in the near future. In the last year, over 40 delegations have spoken in front of the board of trust- ees about French immer- sion issues. The vast ma- jority have called for an ex- pansion to accommodate the demand. Trustees and staff have been sympathetic to the plight of parents. In De- cember, the board ap- proved a plan to add two additional French immer- sion classes per Halton municipality for the up- coming school year. The fear is that in some communities this will still not meet the demand, and the same system of 'win- ners and losers' will con- tinue. "The issue is siblings are separated. My children right now are not in the same school. My daughter is in kindergarten in one school and then my son is at a different school. And let's say you don't get your child in the program, your children will continue to be separated and won't have the same opportuni- ties," said Cambone. There have been real consequences to the board due to a lack of spots. A 2019 parent survey from the board revealed in- adequate French pro- gramming was one of the biggest reasons families considered leaving the board. The challenge to pro- gram expansion at HCDSB always centres on capacity issues. The board is grow- ing so quickly that adding classrooms for a minority program like French im- mersion poses a serious challenge. Ryan Merrick, the su- perintendent of facility management services, ex- plains the spacing issues. "If you look in Milton all of the schools are at 100 per cent [capacity] or higher. Take Our Lady of Victory or St. Peter, which are the lowest utilization schools in Milton. They have a por- table capacity of 12 at both those sites. If we did add two classrooms times eight grades, it would be 16 classrooms and you go above and beyond the por- table capacity," said Mer- rick. Parents who have spo- ken in opposition to French immersion expan- sion have specifically raised additional porta- bles taking away from play space as their major issue. Mary Cruden, with the advocacy group Canadian Parents for French, said the immersion program does not have to take away from English track stu- dents. "A kid in French im- mersion doesn't take up any more space than a kid does in English. What we're talking about is how we organize that space to meet the expectations of parents. In Canada, a bilin- gual country, it is a reason- able expectation to learn French -- our second offi- cial language. So really what we're talking about is allocating the same level of resources and space to children in French immer- sion as we are to one in En- glish. I don't see how one thing has to take from the other," said Cruden. STORY BEHIND THE STORY: For months par- ents have been speaking up at board meetings about their struggles and anxiety with the way the French immersion pro- gram is handled. We want- ed to learn more about the reasoning for the passion around the program and what's being done about it. NEWS FRUSTRATION LOOMS OVER LACK OF FRENCH IMMERSION SPACES ROLAND CILLIERS rcilliers@metroland.com SCAN THIS CODE TO READ MORE CATHOLIC BOARD COVERAGE.