Restricted access to French Immersion in the Upper Grand District School has worried and frustrated many in recent times. But coming changes to registration for the program appear to be heightening those feelings.
Upper Grand District School Board says interest in the French Immersion program has grown steadily over the years. That growing demand, which the board says is directly tied to the program’s success, has made it difficult to accommodate all students wanting in.
Board spokesperson Heather Loney said that after a number of boundary reviews, and given the difficulty the board has had hiring enough qualified FI teachers, the Board of Trustees made a number of recommendations to address the issue.
The coming changes strike some as a contravention of Upper Grand’s mandate to provide equitable and accessible access to education.
The recommendations, Loney said in an email exchange, include making junior kindergarten the only entry point for new FI students, and setting caps on FI enrollments at the school level in the 2017-18 school year. The development of a registration and selection process for FI entry was also recommended.
One provision of the process that strikes some as inequitable is the move to give siblings of students registered in French Immersion priority access to the program. Loney said that decision came as a result of families wanting their younger children to have the same learning choices as an older child, and at the same time keeping siblings together in the same school.
“The changes made to FI for the upcoming school year were communicated by the board widely, and we are now in the midst of JK FI registration, which closes on Jan. 26,” Loney wrote. “Until registration for next year closes, staff won’t know how many applicants there are for the FI program or how many of those applicants have siblings already in the program.”
An important part of the process, she added, is that it will be reviewed annually to better understand the success of programs and better manage growth of the program. As well, the feasibility of allotting a percentage of spaces at each school for new students without siblings would be examined.
Martha van Berkel describes herself as a concerned citizen who is advocating for equal access to FI across the city of Guelph. Her child is entering JK in the fall, but likely won’t get into FI.
She said it appears access to FI for families with no siblings already in the program will be more limited than previously. She believes that is an unfair situation.
She said information released by the board appears to indicate that there will be no room for JK French Immersion students without siblings at Ecole Arbor Vista Public School. At John McCrae public school, just nine out of 46 FI spots will be available to new students without siblings in the program, she added.
Van Berkel and Amy Newman, another concerned parent, addressed a recent Upper Grand board meeting, asking for a motion that upholds the board’s mandate to provide "equitable and accessible access to resources". They requested the motion be dealt with at the Jan. 31 meeting.
“Based on the data shared, the sibling exception process is clearly not equitable,” van Berkel said in an email, adding that all indications are that there will be very limited access to new entry parents.
She added it would be more equitable if the process was a random draw of all registrations.
“The mission of UGDSB states that they will provide equitable and accessible access to resources,” she wrote. “By the numbers, access to FI will not be equitable. We are asking them to not prioritize any group of students and instead make FI equally accessible to all families.”
