By Pepper Parr
May 30th, 2106
BURLINGTON, ON
In a daily newspaper report Halton District school board chair Kelly Amos said she was only made aware of the report on Friday (May 27th) that was going to debate a significant shifts in the way French Immersion is managed within Halton schools.
Stewart Miller, Director of Education has been faced with a task that apparently cannot be resolved – it has to do with the number of students wanting to be enrolled in the French immersion program and the number of qualified French teachers that are very difficult to find.
Stewart Miller – Director of Education Halton District School Board
Add to those two problems the difficult this has with class sizes in some schools. Miller said several months ago that he found himself faced with situations where there were less than ten students in a regular class (a non-French immersion class) which from a teacher student ratio just wasn’t something he could afford to do.
Staff worked up a report and set out a series of motions that were published in the agenda for the boards June 1st meeting.
The Board created a Program Viability Committee (PVC) that has been in existence for just over a year to review both English and French program viability in HDSB elementary schools. Considerable stakeholder consultation was done and feedback was brought to the PVC for review, analysis and recommendations.
After careful analysis of the feedback provided, the PVC identified a number of options. The one they are recommending will provide an additional year for parents to understand their child as a learner prior to making a decision to enter French Immersion, it provides a relatively early entry point as preferred by stakeholders and provides for a greater intensity in the first two years of the program which supports French language acquisition. The recommended model also requires few if any additional boundary reviews, maintains our current dual and single track school configurations and as such will provide for a simpler and less disruptive implementation plan and transition to the new model.
The Gazette has not had an opportunity to study the report that trustees received on Friday. We are providing the outline that was published without any comment or analysis.
Be it resolved that effective in the 2014-15 school year, the Halton District School Board introduce 40 minutes/week of Primary Core French beginning in Grade 1 in 24 Halton District School Board schools, with a commitment for a full roll-out by 2017-18, with an annual review of the roll-out to be brought back to trustees each year, and;
(a) THAT schools selected for the initial phase of this program represent a variety of school organizations
(K-8, K-6, Dual Track, Single Track English, large and small enrolments) across the four geographic areas within the Halton District School Board, (Halton Hills, Milton, Oakville, Burlington).
(b) THAT students in these schools will receive the following minutes of Core French instruction between Grades 1- 8:
40 minutes / week Grades 1-3
120 minutes / week Grades 4
160 minutes/ week Grade 5
200 minutes / week Grades 6-7-8 (Appendix 5)
(c) THAT no later than June 2018, the Halton District School Board will assess the impact of this Primary Core French experience in relation to student engagement, student attitude, English proficiency and the impact on Grade 1 French Immersion uptake associated with these schools.
(d) THAT under the leadership of the System Principal for French Second Language, School Programs and Human Resources, the Halton District School Board will develop a long-term recruitment and staff development plan to ensure the Halton District School Board hires and retains the highest quality French teachers available and that this plan is shared with the Board of Trustees.
(e) THAT the Halton District School Board continues to provide staff development programs that include teaching strategies, modifications and accommodations to address students with diverse learning needs and students who arrive in Halton without prior experiences in either French Immersion and Core French.
(f) THAT the Halton District School Board develop and implement a 5-year plan whereby all Halton District School Board elementary schools with Intermediate Divisions have one classroom dedicated for the teaching of Grade 7-8 Core French whereas if it will not require additional portables.
Be it resolved that effective in the 2014-2015 school year, wherein a triple grade configuration has been possible (due to 23 or fewer students enrolled in three consecutive grades), the School Superintendent will assess the impact on the learning environment and opportunities for students and will consider and recommend for Board approval one of the following strategies;
staff as a Grade 1-2 blended class;
staff as a Grade 1-2-3 blended class;
redirect the Grade 1 students to a neighbouring school for their program and;
Wherein a triple grade configuration has been possible (due to 23 or fewer students enrolled in three consecutive grades for two consecutive years) the School Superintendent will consider and may recommend for Board approval a boundary review.
Be it resolved that effective in the 2014-2015 school year the Halton District School Board:
a) establish and communicate a consistent Grade 1 French Immersion February registration deadline for current Halton District School Board families, with a review of the effects of this procedure be undertaken by September 2014.
b) allow students who have not been in Senior Kindergarten within the Halton District School Board, register in Grade 1 French Immersion up to the first week of school.
c) communicate and implement the assessment and admission procedure for students with French proficiency arriving in Halton after the registration deadline.
d) All elementary schools that offer Grade 1 programming must host a Grade 1 Information Evening that includes information about English program, French Immersion program and Special Education placements. If the home school does not offer French Immersion, the school their students would be directed to for French Immersion cannot host their Grade 1 Information Evening at the same time. The Special Education presentation is to be scripted by the Board’s Special Education department, to include a description of all elementary Special Education placements.
Be it resolved that the Halton District School Board present the following options for the delivery of French Immersion to the public in the Fall of 2015 for the purpose of receiving feedback, considerations and comments. Feedback will be brought to the Board for consideration in the delivery of French Immersion programming:
1. Option 1: Grade 1 (early) French immersion remains a 50% French 50% English delivery model, but entry to FI would be capped. The method of capping would be determined at a later date.
2. Option 2: Grade 1 (early) French Immersion remains at 50% French and 50% English, however all FI programs would be delivered in single track FI schools. French Immersion would be phased out of dual track schools and no new dual track schools would be considered. The location of the single track schools would be determined at a later date.
3. Option 3: French Immersion would commence at a later entry point (mid entry); Grade 4. This would result in the delivery model of FI moving from a 50% model to at least a 80% French Immersion model. In addition the delivery of FI would occur in dual track schools only.
4. Option 4: French Immersion would commence at a later entry point (mid entry); Grade 4. This would result in the delivery model of FI moving from a 50% model to at least an 80% French Immersion model. In addition the delivery of FI would occur in single track FI schools only.
The Halton district school board has approximately 63,000 students in 86 elementary and 18 secondary schools. This enrolment projection results in an overall increase of 1.5% as compared to the 2015/2016 school year.
Board chair Kelly Amos expressed some disappointment at the short amount of time trustees have been given to review the recommendations and discuss concerns with their constituents. The trustees had less than five days to review a complex document.
What the board appears to be suggesting is that the roll out of French Immersion classes be cut back to create some time for parents to think about just what it is they want to do and then allow the board the time it needs to make it all happen.
It is messy – but there is some progress.
Stewart and the trustees that direct him have their hands full. It may not be that quiet a summer on the education front.
The Board will vote on this recommendation on June 15th. The board expects there to be a number of delegations – there will be a special delegation night on June 13.
It’s entirely possible, in fact it’s probable, that the shortage of French teachers is a reflection of the low rate of bilingualism among grade 12 French immersion grads. It is not an effective program, has a high drop-out rate and few students graduate with enough proficiency to become good teachers.
What about all those new Canadians whose first language isn’t English? Are they now forced to learn two new languages? Would that not set them back with the burden being so high?