in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, D ec em be r 3, 20 20 | 12 oakville.ca Notice of Study Commencement Holyrood Promenade and Shorewood Promenade Shoreline Improvements Thursday December 3, 2020 Materials available online https://www.oakville.ca/environment/shorewood- holyrood-improvements.html Your Input is Important! The Town of Oakville has initiated a study to assess shoreline protection needs at two lakefront parks; Holyrood Promenade and Shorewood Promenade. Town staff are seeking public input related to these projects, including alternative solutions, evaluation criteria, environmental impacts and mitigation measures. Please note that all shoreline improvements at Shorewood Promenade will follow a Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks Class Environmental Assessment process. Construction for both sites is planned for summer 2021. The material available for review will include background information on shoreline condition and the deterioration of the current shoreline protection, updates from investigations, evaluation of alternatives for improvements and the preliminary preferred alternatives for each site. Due to COVID-19 restrictions this will be a virtual public consultation. A summary of materials will be made available on the town's website for interested parties to review, and comments on the preferred solution are requested. Please direct all comments, concerns and input on the project from this online consultation to the following contacts via email, mail or phone call by January 7, 2021. Kristina Parker Town of Oakville 1225 Trafalgar Road Oakville, Ontario L6H 0H3 kristina.parker@oakville.ca 905-845-6601, ext. 3889 Fax: 905-338-4414 Jennifer Farrow Baird & Associates 1267 Cornwall Road, Suite 100 Oakville, Ontario L6J 7T5 jfarrow@baird.com 905-845-5385, ext. 435 Accessibility requirements If you have any accessibility needs for reviewing documents or providing feedback, please let us know by contacting Kristina Parker, kristina.parker@oakville. ca or 905-845-6601, ext. 3889. *Information collected will be used in accordance with the Freedomof InformationandProtectionof PrivacyAct. With the exception of person information, all comments will become part of the public record. The board once again has the will, but is strug- gling to find a way. The Halton Catholic Dis- trict School Board is facing renewed calls by parents to expand the popular French immersion program. For well over a year now, board trustees have expressed a desire to grow the program but have been challenged with significant capacity, equity and logistical issues. Over 40 parents have delegated to the board about the issue, many say- ing the inability to get into the program is pushing people into the public school system. Pat Daly, the director of education with the board, said a report on the pro- gram will be presented at the upcoming meeting and then trustees will be left to decide what to do next. "The real work is deter- mining what the next steps are because it's not just say- ing let's add a couple clas- ses here or there. It also will take into account where those classes may go and boundary reviews and all of those elements," said Daly. The board's application window for new entrants to the French immersion pro- gram closed on Nov. 20. The number of applicants have not yet been released but the available spaces is not expected to accommodate all those interested in join- ing next school year. Carrie Kelley, a mother of two with one child cur- rently in the French im- mersion program, said she had heard there were at least 40 children who are siblings of those currently in the program interested in being part of it in the coming school year. "This projection does not account for all the new families wishing to begin their own journey in FI, wishing to give their own children an opportunity to learn our country's other official language within a Catholic school setting. This is not elite program- ming; the demand for FI will not go away. The Hal- ton Catholic school board is behind every other board in making this work. Why the constant delays?" said Kelley in a presentation to the board. The struggle to accom- modate French immersion demand is not unique to the local board. Demand has been steadily growing across the province over the last few years. A lack of qualified teachers is regu- larly cited as a challenge to growth. In Halton, school capac- ity presents an additional difficulty. Milton schools, in particular, are largely well beyond 100 per cent utilization and already have reached the limit for portables to add new class- rooms. Trustee Helena Karabe- la said that just because there are challenges in par- ticular parts of the board, it doesn't mean they should not expand the program. "If there are places we can expand, we should do that and not be sort of slowed down by another ar- ea. The population enrol- ment in Milton is a good thing. Other boards are struggling from declining enrolment and here we have this lovely challenge. But that doesn't mean in other areas where there are schools with empty spaces we couldn't open another site," said Karabela. If that approach is taken it would mean an unequal availability of French im- mersion from one commu- nity to the next. Milton Trustee Patrick Murphy pointed out that any expansion in Milton will have to deal with a complete absence of avail- able classrooms that is ex- pected to persist for years to come. "There is no space. There will be no space for the next 10 years. Maybe we'll get lucky every time we add an elementary school where we will have a two- or three-year window where we can add a few more classes, but that is go- ing to be the governor that allows expansion for the board. And the reality is, it's not going to be able to expand if we're basing it on equitable expansion in all regions. That's just the re- ality," said Murphy. CATHOLIC BOARD GRAPPLES WITH A FRENCH IMMERSION EXPANSION HCDSB trustee Helena Karabela is supporting the board to look into French immersion expansion options regardless of it potentially meaning some areas would get more spaces while others would not. Roland Cilliers/Metroland ROLAND CILLIERS rcilliers@metroland.com NEWS HOW DO YOU EXPAND A PROGRAM FOR A SELECT FEW WHEN SCHOOLS ARE BEYOND CAPACITY?