Oakville Ontario News, Articles and Reviews

Would you be interested in sending your children to a special program like French Immersion if it were offered in your walk-to neighbourhood school? Would it bother you if your children could not attend the public school closest to where you purchased your house and they had to be bussed out of the neighbourhood because the local public school is only available to those who choose special programming? If you answered yes to these questions then you need to read more because the public education system in Oakville has been dividing communities for the past 20 years with a program called Single Track French Immersion (STFI).

Many people who do not choose French Immersion or other special programs for their children often feel they should not concern themselves with how a special program is delivered e.g. single or dual track. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. What people in this community often misunderstand is that, even if you don’t choose a special program, how a special program is delivered can, and does, have a substantial impact on your children regardless of which program you choose for them.

Take Forest Trail in Ward 4 as an example, this is a public school in one of the most densely populated areas in Ward 4. Many people bought homes in the area knowing a school would be built as there was a huge sign in a field that declared that it was the future home of one of Halton District School Boards schools. When the Ward 4 Trustee voted to change the plan and open this as a Single Track French Immersion school it became unavailable to anyone in the neighbourhood unless they happened to be eligible to send their children to attend the FI program. The impact: children in the neighbourhood who want access to core English programming, which the Halton District School Board is mandated to provide, no longer have access to the program at their walk-to neighbourhood school and instead have to be bussed out of the area. Meanwhile, children throughout the Ward wanting FI are bussed in from all around the Ward as the boundary for this program is five times larger than the boundary for the neighbourhood English Track school.

This result is a costly model, only available in Oakville, costly in both transportation costs (paid by the public) as there is free transportation (to the students) provided with the program and cost attributed to the accommodation of over capacity English Track schools which now have to rely on huge numbers of portables to house students who have been assigned to them. The portable usage is far higher when the single track model is utilized. The HDSB has paid in excess of $1.7 million in portable relocation per year. This delivery model also reduces access to the FI program as it is offered only in one central location and many parents are unwilling to bus their children when they have a walk-to English public school available in their neighbourhood.

This could happen at the high school level next with the planned build of West Oaks High School (becomes a STFI) or it could happen to Abbey Park High School (become a Dual Track School) unless the HDSB and Trustees change their philosophy in regard to how the FI program is delivered in Oakville. Would it bother you if the next neighbourhood public school opened as a Single Track French Immersion school available only to those who chose a special program? Would it bother you if an English Track High School (Abbey Park High School) became Dual Track necessitating the bussing of more than 50% of the neighbourhood students to another High School? Would it mean your child would have to be bussed to a high school farther away? Is this how you want your tax dollars spent by the HDSB?

The feedback from the Accommodation Review Process last year indicated that the majority in the Ward would prefer FI being delivered in dual-track schools where both French and English programming are available in a neighbourhood school, consistent with the remainder of the HDSB. The Research Report conducted by the HDSB in 2009 concluded that there was no difference between the Dual Track School and the STFI, in terms of the provision of education to students or in terms of how the students felt about the programs available at the schools or their interactions with other students attending.

Dual Track Schools allow people more choice, better access to program, reduces bussing costs significantly and also portable usage. It maintains that our neighbourhood schools remain accessible to all students wanting to attend the core English program and, if a child needs to switch back to an English program in the event they are not thriving in FI, it gives the child the ability to do so without having to leave their school and their friends and siblings.

However the community is divided. The majority of those currently in the FI program (approx 18% of our community) indicate they prefer the STFI delivery model. Despite the feedback from the community at large, our Ward 4 Trustee still voted to continue the Single Track model when Palermo opened, reflecting feedback from the FI community and with disregard to the majority of the Ward 4 constituents. Ward 4 needs a Trustee that will listen to all constituents and make choices that reflect the interests of all our children. We all need to be interested in this election. Only you can decide whether it is important to you for our Ward to retain walk-to neighbourhood schools. Let your voice be heard. Your vote, or failure to vote, will have a real impact on our schools and our children.

- Concerned Oakville Resident

The Rumour Mill is active as are Politics in Oakville. There is a high school planned to open in Ward 4 on West Oak Trails Boulevard in 2012. The announcement has conjured controversy, not celebration. It is being built to accommodate the future population growth in Oakville and to relieve the overcrowding at Abbey Park High School and White Oaks Secondary School. Somehow it has become about French Immersion?

Education and trusteeship is not about French Immersion. While it is important to some Ward 4 families, it is but one issue among many more significant issues in Education and Halton. It’s time to refocus and move on to the issues that matter most, to most: The health, safety, well being and inclusivity of each and every one of our children and families; the quality of education our children receive when they arrive at school; the stability resulting from pro-active, accurate short and long term planning; fiscal responsibility; transportation, our community and Ministry cut backs and initiatives.

Don’t be fooled by ridiculous, poorly thought out rumours. To criticize a trustee or trustee candidate for soliciting feedback is ludicrous. How else might a trustee or candidate understand and represent community opinion if it has not been received?

To help you understand:

- One trustee cannot make a final decision; Decisions are made via the democratic process by eleven trustees at the board table.
- A single-track French Immersion (FI) elementary school in Halton is one that houses French Immersion students only.
- A dual-track school in Halton is an elementary school that houses both FI and English stream students.
- We do not typically refer to a high school as dual or single track.

Diversity in programming is exceptionally important for the engagement and success of many of our students. Specialization in 2010 is common and High schools provide a wide scope of program and course options throughout Oakville, Halton and Ontario. There are two main categories of courses offered to students in high school; compulsory/mandatory and elective. To graduate students must successfully complete 30 credits. See ministry link for details: www.edu.gov.on.ca/extra/eng/ppm/graduate.html

It’s no lie. I believe in specialized programming and choice; students are successful when programs are specific to their educational strengths, interests and needs. Principals offer course options based on interest and enrolment. Principals cancel courses when enrolment is insufficient. At no time will English Programming be affected at a high school containing a French immersion program. Most French Immersion students will have completed their required courses in French by grade 10, they too require choice.

Students choose to attend high school out of area to participate in specialized programs such as, Specialist High Skill Major, (SHSM), French Immersion, Apprenticeship Training, International Baccalaureate (IB) and others. These programs and courses are subjected to the same enrolment guidelines as any other course.

Oakville has a total of 821 students participating in F I programming at the Secondary School level. Those 821 students are at four schools in Oakville. We build high schools to accommodate at least 1200 students so that we can provide depth, breadth and choice to students preparing for college, university and work. To think trustees, parents of French Immersion students or staff would want to limit students to a single-track high school shows a lack of understanding.

Students need choice in education; parents want choice for their children. The Halton District School Board continues to provide challenge and choice. Be thankful.

As your trustee representative I have listened, heard and responded by finding solutions that best served all of the students and the system. Check the record! Special interest groups will always exist and do not belong at the board table. I clearly understand the opinions in this Ward. I have lived and breathed them for four years.

The fear mongering in our community has nothing to do with the public voting record of the current trustee. For your information and clarification I offer you this:

- Ecole Forest Trail was built specifically to deal with the overcrowding at Ecole Pine Grove and was designated FI before I was elected;
- I supported Palermo Public School as a single-track FI Center as a means to deal with the exceptionally high FI enrolment in Ward 4;
- many parents residing in Palermo and West of Fourth Line expressed their desire to remain at “their school”;
- information from 2006 when I was Co-Chair of Ecole Pine Grove, before trusteeship has been circulated to appear current;
- a single track French Immersion Secondary School model does not exist in Halton, it does not make sense.

Please do your research before October 25th our children count on it.

- Kathryn Bateman-Olmstead, Ward 4 Trustee Candidate and Incumbent

The 2010 Oakville Municipal election will be held on October 25, 2010. Visit our special Oakville election 2010 section for the latest election news, candidate profiles and more.