The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, D ecem ber 2 3 , 2 0 1 6 | 12 Early French Immersion to stay a t Catholic schools by Kathy Yanchus Metroland West Media Halton Catholic District School Board trustees have voted to keep Early French Immersion, rejecting a report by its senior staff to phase out the pilot program. After emotional delegations at the Dec. 20 night, including one by eight-year-old Brooke Feth, a Grade 3 student at St. Mary in Oakville, trustees decided to forge ahead despite staff concerns about a lack of qualified teachers and transportation costs as raised in its French Sustainability Study. That study was presented to the board last month and a vote to discontinue the EFI pilot was deferred until the meeting. Parents had expressed their anger to trustees about not being forewarned the program was in jeopardy. In the end, there were only three trustees who voted in favour of discontinuing the four-yearold pilot program: Anthony Quinn (Oakville), Arlene Iantomasi (Burlington) and Diane Rabenda (Milton). "Parents were asking for it and they're still asking for it; they're here, they're engaged." The programs value and popularity were never in question, said superintendent of education for curriculum services Anna Prkacin, defending her recommendation to phase out EFI. 1see this moment as one of difficult growing pains, but not one to throw in the towel on. 9 9 Helena Karabela Oakville trustee A provincial issue "I would say that this is a provincial issue that every MPP has to be talked to about.. ..because this is what Ontarians want," said Marai. Rabenda said it was trustees' job to deal with realities and the reality is the board has a problem with EFI staffing. "I support that we look at French in a different way. Everyone agrees it' s wonderful and we should keep it, but we have to do it in a slightly different way," said Rabenda. "I'm thrilled the majority of trustees were with us in maintaining the status quo for EFI at HCDSB and I am so thankful they were open to listening to our parent (and student) delegations," said parent Kim Ramsahoye after the board' s vote. "I continue to be incredibly disappointed in the board and the trustees' lack of transparent communications with parents. There is a very clear and deliberate message being sent in that lack of transparency. In this instance, we have made our voices heard and they opened their minds to hear other perspectives. The short term vision of the board and trustees is incredibly frustrating." The EFI issue isn't going anywhere, added Ramsahoye. "So we parents realize we have a lot of work ahead of us and we are focused on keeping our children' s best interests front-and-centre with the board and the trustees." Staff is the issue "We simply cannot continue to offer a program that is reflective of our high standards of excellence when we do not have qualified staff to be able to deliver the instruction," said Prkacin, in explaining the reason behind staff' s recommendation to phase out EFI while expanding core and extended French programming allowing the board to "offer more French to more students." "It boggles my mind that other Catholic boards can pull this off and we can't. We can do everything else better so why can't we do this?" asked Burlington trustee Jane Michael. Although she was not a trustee at the time of EFI' s launch at four Halton school locations, Oakville trustee Helena Karabela said she appreciated the effort and time it must have taken to get the program off the ground. vision of offering quality education for the Halton Catholic District School Board by offering Early French Immersion, the trustees embraced the vision and they supported bus transportation costs," said Halton Hills trustee John Mark Rowe. A specialized education "We knew that it was providing a specialized education for a certain number of students just like we do for AP and IB programs. Knowing the cyclical nature of teacher supply convinces me we should stay the course, but that being said we should never compromise our requirement for practising Catholic teachers and I think we need to give it more of a chance." Oakville trustee Paul Marai said he believed EFI is one of the most popular programs in Ontario, likely second only to full-day Kindergarten and the board should not phase it out. Begun four years ago "This pilot was started by a trustee resolution four years ago because it was part of the previous director' s strategic plan, so it was a strategic planning point that this board wanted to move into this area and deliver this program," said Oakville trustee Anthony Danko. Growing pains "I see this moment as one of difficult growing pains, but not one to throw in the towel on," said Karabela. When staff asked trustees "to extend our ALL WINDSHIELD DOOR & BACK GLASS IN STOCK C e r tifie d A u to G la ss T e c h n ic ia n s w ith 2 2 Y ears O f E x p e rie n c e . · W e d e a l d ir e c tly w it h y o u r I n s u r a n c e C om p an y · L ife tim e W a rra n ty a g a in s t le a k s · S to n e c h ip r e p a ir s · F r e e M o b ile S e r v ic e · F r e e P ic k u p & D ro p O FF '/v /// y< / / ////'/ III/- , a t iQ access abilities i Your ability store. Our passion. Daily Living Grab Bars Show er Stools Transfer Benches Tub M ount Grab Bars CPAP Th erapy Supplies Hospital Beds |Bed Rails O ve r Bed Tables |Dressing Aids M obility Scooters |W heelchairs Stair Lifts |Vehicle Lifts |Porch Lifts Lift and Recline Chairs |Lifting Devices and much m ore! W e can help yo u w ith yo u r om e Health Care needs & w e 'll d o it w ith a smiley access abilities Y o u r a b ility s to re .O u r p a ssio n. Tel: 905.339.0339 281 S p e e rs Rd. O a k v ille O N L6K 2E9 Mention this ad & save 20% on all lift chairs until December 24,2016 / d o e s not in c lu d e third p a rty fu n d e d item s www.speersautoglass.ca m V£V access abilities I N * 11 Your ability store. Our passion. Ad a 5 49 B ron te Rd, O a k v ille 154 N o rs e m a n St, E to b ic o k e in f o @ a c c e s s a b ilit ie s .c a 9 0 5 -8 2 5 -5 3 3 5 4 1 6 -2 3 7 -9 6 5 4 w w w .a c c e s s a b ilit ie s .c a A u th o rize d A D P /W S IB /V A C V e n d o r. L ic e n s e d M e d ic a l D e v ic e s E sta b lish m e n t W e will a lw a y s h a p p ily h on o u r o u r lo c a l c o m p e tito r's p ric e s.