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OAKVILLE BEAVER · Friday, March 6, 2009 2 Parents question school boards FI student projections Continued from page 1 dents who continue to attend Forest Trail School be grandfathered until such time as the elder sibling graduates. This means that students currently attending the school will not be relocated. The third and final recommendation formulated by Joudrie is that the school board consider imbalance of programs in dual-track schools on an annual basis as part of the Long Term Accommodation Plan process. "Keeping in mind the complexity and the challenge of making good decisions, given that there is no unanimous support for any one alternative, there are two aspects he (Joudrie) is asking you to consider," Peden said to trustees. "The questions are these: what is educationally sound and what is fiscally responsible." Bateman-Olmstead's recommendations put a heavier emphasis on single-track French immersion. She said the reason behind the new solutions is her unhappiness, as well as that of many Ward 4 parents, with Joudrie's final recommendations. "One of the things this board continues to work on is making kids feel safe and making them feel like they belong in their schools," she said. "One of the things that came up (in the consultation process), I think significantly, was belonging in Frenchimmersion single-track schools is higher than all of the other schools across Halton. I think that is significant. Single-track provides for our children, for our parents and in my ward, provides sustainability and stability a whole lot better than what I've seen from dual-track models." Bateman-Olmstead's first recommendation is that Palermo open in September 2010 as a single-track French immersion school and that French immersion boundaries be realigned to create balance between Palermo and Ecole Forest Trail. Her second recommendation is that this location be used to pilot a mid-entry French immersion program. Bateman-Olmstead's third recommendation is that serious consideration be given to the grandfathering of students and siblings, who have already been relocated, and where possible and appropriate, students will be granted optional attendance in order to minimize disruption to students and staff, referring to Emily Carr and Forest Trail. Her fourth and final recommendation is that the school board realign the English-track boundaries for English-track schools north of Upper Middle Road, dealing with Emily Carr and West Oak Public School, directing students to lowerenrolled schools south of Upper Middle Road. Three Ward 4 parents who gave presentations at the start of Wednesday's meeting expressed concerns with Joudrie's recommendations. Laura Klemenchuk, co-chair of the school council at Ecole Forest Trail, made several propositions for changes to his recommendations. Among her requests were that the board take the Pilgrim Wood dualtrack option off the table and find temporary options for overcrowding at Ecole Forest Trail for the 2009-10 school year until Palermo opens in September 2010 as a single-track French immersion school. "We respectfully ask that trustees consider the fairness of Director Joudrie's recommendations," Klemenchuk said. "The recommendations do not appropriately address the accommodation issues of Ward 4. It creates a situation of inequity in both English and French immersion communities. It addresses the overcrowding of only one school and the under- oyster perpetual gmt master ii SOLID WOOD BEDROOM Canadian Made utilization of another. If approved, Ward 4 will still have schools bursting at the seams, like West Oak, and others at risk of losing staff and resources because of declining numbers, like Abbey Lane. This is neither fair nor equitable." However, some English-track parents do not support single-track French immersion education at Palermo. "If Palermo becomes single track French immersion, Heritage Glen will become overcrowded (with English-track students)," said Laurel Best, who spoke to the board on behalf of Heritage Glen School council. "If the board's projections are correct, Heritage Glen will be back at the board in four years as a result of overcrowding issues" A recurring theme in the presentations was the accuracy of projected enrolment numbers for fall 2015 provided in Joudrie's report. The report anticipates there will be an approximately 22 per cent uptake for Grade 1 French immersion in 2015. Currently, the uptake for Grade 1 within Oakville is approximately 40 per cent. Some parents, as well as several trustees, questioned whether the decrease in expected uptake is correct. Members of both groups said they expected French immersion would remain a very popular program in Oakville. A concern expressed by Englishtrack parents is that incorrect estimations would cause overcrowding, as well as an imbalance between French and English students at Pilgrim Wood School. "There is no room for growth at Pilgrim Wood, other than by way of portables or a permanent addition to the school," said Ward 4 parent Shelly Meadows in her presentation on Wednesday night. 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See Store For Details. 217 Lakeshore Road East Downtown Oakville Since 1953 www.swissinteriors.com 905.844.3530 only one dual-track school south of Upper Middle, the board would merely be transferring the overcrowding of Forest Trails to Pilgrim Wood. This will result in a lack of long-term stability at Pilgrim Wood. No children should have to move again in the future because of poor planning today." The board's planning department, under the helm of Superintendent of Business Services Steven Parfeniuk, developed the enrolment forecast. Parfeniuk said staff considered many different factors to determine the 22 per cent uptake forecast for 2015. "The growth that happened in some of the other municipalities in the GTA with French immersion three or four years ago has become now in decline," he said. Parfeniuk also said that while there is no guarantee the numbers are accurate, the planning department's history speaks for itself and he stands behind their work. "We are confident that the numbers have been put together by experts," Parfeniuk said. "Last year, our planning department was out five kids in this board. That's 32,000 kids and we are out by five. What planning has done and try to understand is parental choice, the changes that would occur with respect to opening up a second school and then a third school. One thing I can tell you for sure is that they didn't get it perfect." Peden briefly discussed the results of the research study initiated by Joudrie on the benefits of single-track French immersion versus dual-track programming on Wednesday night. The report results did not overwhelmingly rank one type of programming over the other. "The two most important elements for a successful program are the quality of the teacher and the quality of the leadership within a school," said Peden. "These two elements exist in both dual and single-track programs." The study supports this statement, Peden said. "There was no significant difference (between single-track and dualtrack French immersion)," she told The Oakville Beaver. A team of research department staff at the board office spent two weeks creating the report based on information gathered from all Halton French immersion students, including single-track and dual-track, from the past three to four years, according to Heather Gataveckas, coordinator of the research department. The recommendations and results of the research project are available online under the March 4 board agenda at www.hdsb.ca.