PAGE 8 â€" Melodee Martinuk . Shronicle Staff . Several north Waterloo residents are staging an eleventhâ€"hour campaign to stop the closure of Erbsville school. Speaking at Thursday‘s board of education meeting, Margaret Anglin and Roy Dahl, Beechwood area parents, urged trustees to keep Erbsville open as an Englishâ€"only alternative to the Frenchâ€"immersion elementary schools now operating in the city‘s west The Waterloo county board of education‘s school accommodation review committee has recommended that the school be closed at the end of this school year because the majority of its students will be attending the new Beechwood West school when it opens in Sepâ€" tember. Thursday‘s meeting was the residents‘ only opportunity to officially respond to the committee recâ€" ommendation. _ Anglin, of 192 Westcourt PI., told the board that French immersion hadseriously weakened the Englishâ€" CAN YOU HEAR IT? OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS AT OPERATION OPEN DOOR e A flexible, full or partâ€"time adult day program for those over 18 and out of school for one year or more e choose from a variety of high school courses e take up to four courses in each tenâ€"week term e credits available to mature students for previous education and job experience e no tuition fees! e call today for a personal interview and let us show you that it won‘t take long to earn your Nancy Waschke of Waterioo cut the ribbon at the official opening of the Waterioo campus of the St. Louis Adult Learning Centre. Dignitaries on hand for the opening included Wailter McLean and Marjorie Carroll as well as senior administration and trustees from the Waterioo Region Separate School Board. HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA! KITCHENER / WATERLOO: ALEXANDRA CAMPUS 35 Alexandra Street, Waterioo See school as Englishâ€"only alternative REGISTER BEFORE JANUARY 27, 1987 for the next session which starts on JANUARY 29, 1987 l ER M e B P n i !‘ 3 l. .l.l L N ." EO »3‘. l"l M MA Parents defend Erbsville role The Waterioo County Board of Education TA2â€" 21. 1987 only programs at Waterloo‘s Empire and Keatsway schools by "skimming off* the brighter students and leaving the English classes with an "unusually high proportion of students with learning or behavior problems.‘‘ Anglin added that many parents are putting their children in immersion just to avoid these problems and she predicted that the same thing will occur in the Beechwood West school if it goes immersion. "I believe that in a predominantly Englishâ€"speaking country the first priority of the public school system is to provide a strong English primary education. Until parents are assured that this will be done in our area it is only fair to keep Erbsville open," she said. Echoing Anglin‘s arguments was Roy Dakhl, of 314 Old Post Road, who told trustees that he had transferred his daughter to Erbsville from the English program at Keatsway because ‘"it seemed that only the rejects, and I hesitate to use that term but that‘s what a lot of the kids felt, were in the English program.‘" Dahl argued that with the growth in the city‘s north and west there is little doubt that there will be need for another school in Buy them ‘"by the pound..."‘ THE BARGAIN HUNTERS C / Sunday Jan. 25 ___ 10 a.m.â€"4 p.m. To Queiph HOTEL QUALITY â€" bath, hand, face and tub mats. DIRECT FROM THE MANUFACTURER WAREHKHOUSE It‘s Cambridge Towel‘s TOWELS ‘The Brighton school community has come out with nothing but praise for the Waterioo county board of education‘s school review committee and its recommendation to keep Brighton school open. Spokesman for the Brighton school parents Mark Arlett said his group ‘‘strongly supported" the committee recommendation to retain Brighton as a regular day school facility and to expand the school‘s catchment area in order to increase its enrolmenit. "We are confident that Brighton school has a great deal to offer the children and parents of an expanded catchment area. Their participation is welcome," said Arlett. « "Brighton is an excellent facility. It enjoys strong support from both those directly associated with the school and from the community as a whole. Board staff had recommended Brighton for closure next year because of its low enrolment. Arlett noted that since September 30, 1986 actual enrolment at Brighton has increased from 104 students to 123 students, approximately 18 per cent. Much praise for _ review committee Sale to be held on our shipping dock at rear of building! :‘ 450 Dobbie Dr. Cambridge 623â€"5520 CAMBRIDGE TOWEL IT‘S CHEAPER! the area and Erbsville should be retained as an alternative "to the shiny schools divided by immerâ€" sion." Anglin, who also took her child out of Keatsway because of problems with the English program, said she will transfer her daughter to either Bridgeport or Brighton school if Erbsville closes because ‘‘we have no assurance that she can get a fair and equal education in the English program at Keatsway, Empire or Beechâ€" wood West school. _ "One wonders who is looking out for the interests of parents who still want a traditional primary education for their children," she said. Board chairman Elizabeth Witmer said she had received a letter from one other parent expressing arguments similar to Anglin and Dahl. Also received by the board was a letter from Waterloo city council supporting the review committee‘s recommendation to close the school. _ ~ ""l“'l;eva)a';ti will make a decision on the future of the school at its Jan. 29 meeting.