2016 | 22 Parents of children in the Halton Catholic District School Board‘s Early French Immerâ€" sion (EFI) program are scrambling to save it from the chopping block. A vote to discontinue the EFI pilot proâ€" gram established four years ago in favour of increasing the extended French program www.insidehaliton.com | MILTON CANADIAN CHAMPION | Thursday, December 8 Select areas only Collateral KIMBERLY SINGH AMP GIVE YOURSELF THE GIFT OF TIME Let MAID RIGHT Clean Your Home This Holiday Season and into the New Year w Same Reliable Owners Clean Each Visit / Ecoâ€"Friendly Cleaning Products V Colourâ€"Code Clothes * Enviroshield Whole Home Disinfecting | s/ Strongest Guarantee in the industry WHICH MORTGAGE FEATURES ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT? Early Payout Penalities: Not all Lenders will calculate penalties the same, the differences in the penalties can amount to thousands. Watch out for limited mortgages that don‘t allow you to get out of. your mortgage without selling or coming to term. 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Some lenders will offer a new five year term, others will only blend the remaining term, or offer both. | (which begins in Grade 5), was deferred by | trustees at a recent board meeting to Dec. 20 | to give parents an opportunity to delegate at this week‘s board meeting. That decision came after EFI parents contactâ€" ed several trustees in advance of the Nov. 15 meeting to express their concern and anger MEDICAL SOLUTIONS is foot pain stopping you from enjoying your favorite activities? We can help you get back to living! Call For an Appointment 289.878.7334 350 Main St. E. Suite 1B, Milton www.medicalifootsolutions.com See our flyer in the next 3 issues of the d%'.m.uli.ulo Life is Short. Clean Less. Parents scramble to save early at being "kept in the dark" about the upcomâ€" ing vote. | "We have literally had no communication from the board about this change; the only way people have found out is through our own investigation," said parent Kim Ramsaâ€" hoye, whose daughter attends the EFI proâ€" gram at St. Mary School in Oakville. "It‘s a lack of transparency on the board‘s side. There | has been very, very little concern about how | French immersion program dren in Halton, commented Burlington EFI parent Marcio Campos. "We should be striving to make this a top notch program, an inclusive and effective option to grow bilingual students who can achieve their Godâ€"given full potential. Scrapâ€" ping the program works against that," said | Campos. parents are feeling about the program. It‘s all | happening so quickly." Currently, EFI is offered at four schools: St. Benedict (Milton), Sacred Heart of Jesus (Burâ€" lington), St. Brigid (Halton Hills) and St. Mary with a total enrolment of 670 students. in phasing out the program the board cited isâ€" sues of the lack of qualified teachers, equity of access to the program and transportation costs, in its French Sustainability Study. "These are all very real concerns," said St. Mary EFI parent Gillian Kantor. "However, we beâ€" lieve there are solutions to each." Ongoing demand for the EFI program and | its pilot status prompted the review of the board‘s optional French programs to deterâ€" mine their sustainability and examine various options, states the study. Staff‘s recommenâ€" | dation to phase out EFI in favour of a more ‘hybrid‘ model is a compromise that allows it | "to offer French to more students earlier" "We are certainly quite saddened that we are in the situation we are at, but we have to face our reality and make some plans for the future | and taking a look at where we‘re at seemed to be something we needed to consider" comâ€" mented Anna Prkacin, superintendent of eduâ€" cation, curriculum services. In response to Oakville trustee Anthony Quinn‘s query about communication to parâ€" ents of current EFI students with the study‘s results, Prkacin said she believed protocol called for the trustees to hear the information first, "and then it is public and disseminated | through the various channels. .." The board‘s recommended action is a premaâ€" ture decision to scrap an important program with a complete disregard to the program‘s | value, outcomes and benefits to Catholic chilâ€" SPECIAL HOLIDAY CLEANING OFFER *75 OFF Receive $25 OFF your first regular service clean and $50 OFF your fourth regular service clean.* Not valid on prior services. Not redeernable for cash. Applies to new customers only. When the program was presented to parents four years ago as a pilot program, it was not presented as one that might be phased out but as a pilot program with the potential to be expanded to new sites, said Ramsahoye. Although the study states that those students currently enrolied in EFI will be allowed to continue, there is no guarantee that will be the case, added Ramsahoye. "There is no guarantee in this study that the current cohort will be ushered through their remaining elementary years with an intact EF! program. Will the program be moved from the current designated schools? If the numbers of remaining students in the program drop, will they be absorbed into extended French at which point will they have to change schools? Because of the way this has been handled thus far, it‘s sad to say ! do not trust what they‘re telling us." An online petition to save EFI has gathâ€" ered more than 250 names as parents try to connect and spread the word: http://bit. ly/2gFK6sF. There is also a Facebook page for parents to share information: http://bit. ly/2fidWuu. "I truly understand the concerns they have about how to make it viable going forward, but pulling the rug out from under the kids | in the program now as well as the parents, it‘s just not the way to go," said Ramsahoye. "I believe the school board will lose a lot of kids over this." Catholic elementary students should have the right to begin learning a second language in the early years, in a Catholic environment, said Yvette Alonso, a parent with two children in the Oakville EFI program. "Studies have shown over and over that language learning is better when started early. We need our chilâ€" dren‘s voices to be heard" Public meeting to discuss future of Omagh village The Town of Milton will hold its first public meeting reâ€" garding the Omagh Heritage Conservation District on Wednesday (Dec. 14). As Town staff plan for future growth north of Britannia Road, a public engagement session is set to seek views on the future of the Omagh area â€" the only village left in Milton from the former Trafalgar Township. This engagement will offer information related to deâ€" velopment plans and will help shape the future of the urban village. The meeting will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Omagh Church of Christ, 9850 Britannia Rd.