Trustees save French immersion at Halton Catholic board

Parents who want their children to have the opportunity to learn French are celebrating news that a French immersion program on the brink of closure at Halton Catholic District School Board has been saved.

The decision by trustees Tuesday night came as a relief to many parents who had been protesting recommendations from a committee — endorsed by board staff — to phase out the program because of a “French teacher staffing crisis.”

“All of us just feel over the moon this morning,” Georgetown parent Cheryl Neves said Wednesday.

She has daughters in Grades 3 and 1 in French immersion at St. Brigid Catholic Elementary School and was one of many parents who had fought the plan and attended a packed board meeting Tuesday night.

“It renews our faith in the system knowing that (trustees) did listen to what parents had to say,” said Neves, a former French immersion student who now teaches it at another board. “To have this outcome is an amazing feat.” Not only did trustees reject the staff recommendation and decide to save the program, they voted to make the Halton Catholic board’s French immersion pilot, launched in 2013, permanent, and to extend it through high school and look at expanding it to other locations.

The program, available to Grade 1 students, currently has 821 students enrolled in Grades 1 through 5 at four elementary schools.

The Halton Catholic board also offers extended French beginning in Grade 5.

“This is good for French immersion, good for the kids and good for the Halton Catholic board,” said Betty Gormley, executive director of Canadian Parents for French (Ontario).

The Halton Catholic board has faced a major challenge finding teachers who are both Catholic and qualified to teach French.

A shortage plaguing the province over the last few years has hindered its ability to deliver immersion and extended French programs as well as core French classes for other students, said Anna Prkacin, superintendent of education and curriculum services.

Sometimes, English-speaking teachers are being assigned to French classes until staff can hire someone qualified, she said.

However, Education Minister Mitzie Hunter has promised to take immediate steps to alleviate the shortage including: recruiting French teachers from abroad; introducing measures to attract more French-speaking candidates to teachers college; and providing financial assistance to teachers who want to boost their French qualifications.

Gormley said she credits Halton parents who made strong and eloquent cases about why immersion should be a priority for the board’s decision to keep the program.

Her advocacy group is optimistic the ministry will find a way to alleviate the French teacher shortage.