The Ottawa Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) is considering widespread changes to its school boundaries, French immersion programming, grade structure and special education and to say parents are upset about what is being proposed would be a massive understatement.
If adopted, the changes would effect more than 120 schools and effect nearly half of the board’s students in one way or another.
Thirty schools would be affected by the proposed changes to grade structures, while the boundary changes would affect 198 programs in 123 schools across the city and require an estimated 11,000 students to switch schools.
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| Forest Valley Elementary School in Chapel Hill is one of three schools in the east end which may undergo grade re-structuring. FILE PHOTO |
Among the changes being proposed is the gradual elimination of the Middle French Immersion (MFI), the closing of the board’s Alternative Schools and phasing out some special education programs.
The OCDSB also wants to consolidate its elementary school programs into two streams – Enhanced English (EE) and French Immersion (FI).
Among the changes proposed in the east end are:
- Convent Glen Elementary School would go from JK to Grade 5 to to JK to Grade 3 with both an Enhanced English (EE) and French Immersion (FI) stream;
- Forest Valley Elementary School would go from JK to Grade 5 to to JK to Grade 3 with both an EE and FI stream;
- Henry Larsen Elementary School would go from JK to Grade 8 to Grades 4-8 with an EE, FI and Middle French Immersion stream;
- Glen Ogilvie Public School: in Blackburn Hamlet would go from JK to Grade 5 to JK to Grade 6 with both an EE and FI stream.
Even more controversial than the program changes are the changes being proposed to the special education program with a stronger focus on integrating more special needs children into mainstream classrooms.
The outcry from parents over the past few weeks has given the board pause and opened the door to additional consultations and an online survey.
While no in-person consultations have been planned for the east end, virtual infor-mation meetings are schedule for Monday, March 24 from 12 noon to 1:30 p.m. and from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Would-be participants can register by visiting engage.ocdsb.ca/elementary-program-review.
According to the board’s original timeline, trustees are supposed to make a final decision on the proposed changes in April.
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