Public Meeting Single-Track French Immersion Accommodations Tuesday November 5, 2013 Brantford Collegiate Institute, Auditorium 7:00 p.m.

Transcription

1 1. Welcome and Introductions R Collver welcomed those present and made introductions of the Trustees, Working Committee and dministrators. Trustees: Rita Collver, David Dean, Jane ngus, Marion Macdonald, Carol nn Sloat, Eva Dixon French Immersion Working Committee: Beth McIntosh, Jill Berridge Principals: Marlies Redekop, Beth Lougheed Staff: J Forbeck, J Gunn, S Sincerbox, T Oldham, S McKillop, K Underwood 2. Setting the Context J Forbeck welcomed those present, walked through the process to date in terms of Single Track French Immersion and ccommodations and noted that the meeting purpose is based on the students needs. J Forbeck clarified that no decision has been made to date on accommodations and that staff, trustees and administration was there to listen and to answer any questions. 3. Working Committee Report J Gunn reviewed the report highlighting the outcomes of the Single Track accommodations options. J Gunn reviewed the options of accommodations and the short term options to be considered while capital approvals are being sought.. J Gunn noted that long term options for accommodations are required to be approved by the Ministry. Page 1 of 9

2 4. Frequently sked uestions S Sincerbox noted that there is a lot of information that is being shared tonight to process and that we want to hear from the parents. S Sincerbox informed the parents that the highest priority is the school program and the second priority is accommodations. S Sincerbox highlighted some of the frequently asked questions and reminded parents that the questions and answers are available on the website. 5. uestions/comment and Feedback B Lougheed clarified the process of the flow of the question/answer and comment portion of the meeting to allow for all parents to participate. The following is a summary of questions/answers and comments received: Now that the County and the City have agreed to expand the City limits, how does the Board school rationalize closing the school that won t meet the future enrollment needs? When the City brings forward a development plan a new school will be considered as part of the planning process. n application for future growth plans would be submitted to the Ministry. t one of the Board meetings, an administrator said that they would only consider older students at the Victoria site, please clarify. For many previous years Victoria school served for both all elementary and secondary students. s an option, staff identified the need to split the population to take pressure off of Fairview school. The Grade 5-8 cohort is smaller and so was considered for transfer to Victoria. Is Coronation school not vacant and available? Would keeping the students on site not be better for the current students? Students can be kept on site during construction but the Board has learned through past experiences that it is not a best practice. Page 2 of 9

3 Yes, but the scope of work is far more substantial that the addition of the port-a- pack. Public Meeting Weren t students on site for the construction of port-a-pack at Fairview? How do you consider sending students to a school that does not have a gymnasium or an appropriate library? There is a small gymnasium at Victoria school. Libraries are considered in many different ways as a result of the advancement of technology in classroom. The library will be reviewed as part of the planning process. How can opening a third school be a financial burden on the budget? Budgets that the Board receives for French Immersion are not the kind of budgets that cover heat, hydro and maintaining of the school repairs. There is not additional funding for a third school without an increase in the overall Board enrollment. Is there not an additional $1500 per student for French Immersion? The additional grant for French Immersion is $ per student for With the achievement scores of the students currently being in the top ten percent of the province, what type of plan will be put in place to ensure that the scores do not decrease with the change of schools? Provincial testing results are a reflection from JK-Grade 8 and it is difficult to make a correlation between student scores and school sites as there are many factors that make up the scores. Scores are more impacted by resources and program delivery from the teachers as opposed to the physical structure of the building. Our hope is to specifically attain high scores for all our schools. Shifting hours of the school day to accommodate busing effects the students and families, I would like to see a schedule so I can see the impact on my family. Once accommodation plans are finalized more information will flow to the parents that will address the school day and other information that will assist families in planning. Page 3 of 9

4 We rely heavily on bus buddies, if our bus buddies are across the city, how will they help the smaller children and how will those students make up the time, with them being transferred lost with having the older students? We would manage the need for bus assistance within the school. pproval of Ministry funding for has not been received and will take long, this should already have been submitted. Please explain why it has taken so long? The uality ccommodations committee worked for 16 months to gather the data to present to the Board. We received the accommodations report and the Board decided that Single track French Immersion would be the priority. s a result of this we have made it the Boards focus and why we are having this public process to receive public input. I have called the City and the Ministry of Environment regarding the Brownfield site near Victoria School, neither were able to provide me with any answers on the safety of the Victoria school site. Have you done any soil testing at 40 Richmond Street? Yes testing has been completed and is ongoing. There are ground water contaminants on the site and throughout the neighborhood. The contaminants are 3.5 metres below ground level and do not cause for concern to the safety of those on site. C Would you send your children there to dig in the soil? previous comment said that there was no budget for opening a third school. But Coronation was open until June of last year, so where is the discrepancy? Where has the funding for the operating of this school gone? Coronation was closed to eliminate operating and long term maintenance costs to react to declining enrollment. We have two functioning schools, looking for comments on why we are building a new school? We are trying to address overcrowding at the current French Immersion schools. The Coronation site is a more appropriate for expansion than the two current sites. Page 4 of 9

5 is? If you have 2 functioning schools, why not put the students where the demand We have considered many options presented to the Board from the ccommodations Committee. s already stated, we do not support creation of a third school. s a short term solution you want to bring the students to Victoria school, have you thought of the location and the concern that the neighborhood has changed and it is not safe? Have you checked the school for asbestos? sbestos is present in almost all schools and many of our homes. The Board is required to complete an annual survey and maintain an asbestos report for all buildings. We inspect our buildings on a regular basis to ensure there is no exposure that could harm the students. Can you guarantee that the asbestos will not be airborne? No, we cannot make guarantees. Testing is completed monthly, reviewed and acted upon immediately. The board underestimated the French Immersion enrollment numbers. Why do we need the Ministry to approve the building of a third school, this would eliminate turning away children? The Ministry controls many different funding streams for the school board. When we want to construct or open schools the funding is all controlled by the Ministry. The Ministry looks at the current enrollment and not future enrollment predictions to grant funds. The Grand Erie District School Board cannot predict if the Ministry will financially support a new school or the expansion of an existing school. The Ministry makes decisions based on current numbers in terms of funding. To better predict student enrollment, some boards delay the start of French Immersion programming until Grade 1. The Grand Erie District School Board has not taken this approach for French Immersion enrollment. Is dual track from Junior Kindergarten still being considered? The d Hoc Committee discussed dual track as an option to meet accommodation needs for the future enrollment. Page 5 of 9

6 Why have grades 5-8 been chosen to move to Victoria school? It was a suggested recommendation to balance enrolment with capacity and take away 200 students from the Fairview school. Classroom space at Fairview is better suited to JK/SK program than space at Victoria. How will the grade 4 s be able to participate in extra-curricular activities? When a decision is made on the accommodations, the programming will then be reviewed and planned for in the best interest of the students. I don t understand the urgency of the accommodations; please clarify why Fairview is not a viable site and what it would take to make it suitable? The site is one of the smallest in acreages and is not suitable for long term expansion. The ability to add more portables would be up to the city to approve the building application. If the grant doesn t get approved, where are we going to be next September? The funding decision is totally dependent on the Ministry of Education. If funding is not approved the Board will consider other options. I d like to know which students will not be accommodated when French Immersion is capped? The Board has not made any decision or comment on capping of French Immersion program. There is an empty Catholic School in a nice area that is vacant, why has this option not been considered? This is an option for the Board to investigate. Page 6 of 9

7 Do Dufferin students need to be bused to Burford for French Immersion? Busing students from the City to the County has not been discussed nor has it been considered. C If the funding doesn t come through, I would prefer that Coronation school be opened. Overall, I don t believe that there would be a large increase in operations. We need to do what we can at the present time and then plan for in the future as part of the development process. It took a long time to get the portable pack completed at Fairview. How long is it going to take to plan and complete the renovation and addition for Coronation School? It is hopeful that the Ministry will approve the funding by the Spring of The Board would then plan and complete construction for September C Can t schools be constructed over the summer? What do you want us to do to help support the application to the Ministry for funding, how do we help you to get portables at Fairview? Can we get some suggestions on how to help and support the Grand Erie District School Board on the web site? The Trustees will collectively reflect and make a decision. Once a decision is made, then the planning phase can commence and parent input through the design committee will be sought. ssuming you applied for the funding, if every parent writes a letter in support, does this help the Board? In the early spring the Ministry makes decisions and notifies the boards of education. The administration will be working on a plan that the Trustees will consider and bring forward for an approved decision. Page 7 of 9

8 C The Grand Erie District School Board is building for a capacity to 584 students. How are you not capping the program when current capacity is 534? C If we get approval in the spring, why wouldn t we get this project completed for the start of September? C How can you fathom putting a child near ground water contamination? C t 534 students, accommodating the students in the current schools is not viable; at 300 students at Fairview, why not just remove the portables, if this not a viable option? Why are we being discriminated against as the average school enrollment across the Grand Erie District School Board is 200 students? s already stated, we do not support creation of a third school. What is the anticipated time frame that students will be at Victoria school? If the Ministry of Education approval is received in the spring of 2014, the anticipated project schedule would be a full year. Has the Board considered the impact if the parents of the French Immersion students pull them out to be enrolled into the Catholic school board? Every student in Grand Erie District School Board is important and we want to encourage more students to enroll as we offer a good program. The Grand Erie District School Board was forward thinking by offering French Immersion. The program is successful as the enrollment is increasing, this is a good problem. We don t have all the answers tonight as we are in the process of gathering information but we are listening and interested in hearing from the parents. C My family moved here to Brantford from Hamilton because of the French Immersion program and the proximity from our home to the school. What financial support is there to get Victoria School ready for September? The review of the Victoria building is something that the Board will undertake if approved as holding school and is possible to be ready for September, Page 8 of 9

9 C Public Meeting The small gym at Victoria is not a gym as it is so small. C My child is looking forward to being a bus buddy and helping with the younger children. Will this be taken away with the older students being relocated? re you looking at dual track French Immersion at the other high schools to accommodate the increase in enrollment in the elementary schools?. Yes, we will be looking at Secondary French Immersion program needs. 6. Next Steps and Conclusion The Director informed the parents that notes of the meeting will be shared with all Trustees and available to the public. The Director commented that the Grand Erie District School Board is listening to the parents and informed the parents that the options on accommodations for Single Track French Immersion rest with the Trustees. The Director made note that the dialogue tonight was a good example of how adults can listen, reflect and come to a resolution. Page 9 of 9