By Walter Byj
March 4, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
The Halton school board thought that it was a fait accompli, that the matter was done. Pineland would not have a full day kindergarten (FDK) starting in September 2015 but would continue the process of converting to a full French Immersion school by the year 2020. Parents, with children were advised to make other plans.
But some of the parents in the Pineland area are not accepting the decision. They feel that it is wrong on a number of levels.
Wrong because the concept of a community school is being destroyed with English students being forced to leave the area.
Wrong because it is forcing siblings to attend different schools.
Wrong because of all the busing for French immersion students at Pineland and most importantly, it is wrong because it contravenes the education act.
With these facts in hand, Denise Davy met with David Euale (Director of Education and Robert Eatough (Superintendent of Education). Her pleas fell on deaf ears so now it was time for plan B.
Denise Davey is no slough – seen here with former Governor General Michelle Jean accepting the prestigious Michener- Deacon award for her writing.
Board Policy required at least 15 children to be signed up for the FDK program – the board administration said they got just 13 sign ups – Sure claims Denise Davey one of the parents behind this effort – the Board did next to nothing to alert parents to the requirement. They ran a single announcement in a local paper a few days before the deadline.
A group of parents met earlier in the week to plan a strategy to continue with a FDK program at Pineland. Needing to act quickly, September is not that far away, a number of ideas are coming to play.
1. Create more community involvement so as to get a better understanding as to the number of families that would be affected by this decision in the future. This means canvassing door to door and creating and distributing flyers.
2. Reach the community through social media: a Facebook page ”Support Pineland Kindergarten“ has been set up.
3. Communicate via mail with concerned government officials stating their case. This would include the Minister of Education, opposition party education critics along with the local MPP and current trustees.
4. Secure a lawyer and file a lawsuit against the Halton Board. The basis of the lawsuit would be based on the following sections of the Education Act.
Operation requirement
2.1 (1) Every board shall, in every elementary school of the board in which instruction is given in grade 1, operate a full day junior kindergarten and kindergarten in accordance with paragraph 6.2 of subsection 170 (1) of the Act. O. Reg. 137/14, s. 2.
(2) Despite subsection (1), a board is not required to operate full day junior kindergarten or full day kindergarten in the following circumstances:
1. A board is not required to operate full day junior kindergarten in a school if, pursuant to a policy of the board approved on or before June 26, 2014, the school offers only French immersion, starting in kindergarten or later.
2. A board is not required to operate full day junior kindergarten or full day kindergarten in a school if, pursuant to a policy of the board approved on or before June 26, 2014, the school offers only French immersion, starting in grade 1 or later.
3. A board is not required to operate full day junior kindergarten or kindergarten in a school in a school year if the school is identified in a policy or guideline issued by the Minister pursuant to paragraph 3.0.0.1 of subsection 8 (1) of the Act, and published on a Government of Ontario website, as a school that is not required to operate full day junior kindergarten or kindergarten for the school year, due to facility or other operational barriers to the board’s ability to operate full day junior kindergarten or kindergarten in that school in that school year.
Exception re early childhood educators, less than 16 pupils
3. (1) A board is not required to designate a position in a junior kindergarten class, kindergarten class or combined junior kindergarten and kindergarten class as requiring an early childhood educator or to appoint an early childhood educator to such a position if there are fewer than 16 pupils enrolled in the class on a date selected by the board for each school year that is not earlier than September 1 and not later than September 30. O. Reg. 224/10, s. 3 (1); O. Reg. 133/12, s. 1 (1).
(1.1) The date selected by the board for the purposes of subsection (1) must be the same date that is selected for the purposes of section 3 of Ontario Regulation 132/12 (Class Size) made under the Act in relation to determining class sizes in elementary schools. O. Reg. 133/12, s. 1 (2).
(2) Except in the circumstances described in subsection (3), subsection (1) applies to only one class in each school of the board, whether a junior kindergarten class, a kindergarten class or a combined junior kindergarten and kindergarten class. O. Reg. 224/10, s. 3 (2).
(3) In each school of the board that offers French immersion in junior kindergarten and kindergarten, subsection (1) applies to,
(a) only one English class, whether a junior kindergarten class, a kindergarten class or a combined junior kindergarten and kindergarten class; and
(b) only one French immersion class, whether a junior kindergarten class, a kindergarten class or a combined junior kindergarten and kindergarten class. O. Reg. 224/10, s. 3 (3).
This will be an uphill battle for the Pineland community and the timeline is narrow but in their opinion, it is worth the effort.
