English students to move as Elgin school battle ends

After weeks of bickering among parents, the debate over how to solve overcrowding at Elgin Street Public School came to an emotional conclusion Tuesday.

Trustees voted to send students in the English program at the downtown school across Centretown to Centennial Public School. They had little choice after discovering that the alternative solution they had approved in February violated the provincial law that governs school boards.

The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board had voted to send Elgin’s kindergarten students to Centennial, a temporary solution that was seen as less disruptive and less permanent than moving the English program.

But they were forced to reconsider that decision after the father of a kindergarten student pointed out that the Education Act requires elementary schools to offer fullday kindergarten.

Trustees concluded there was no time — and perhaps no likelihood, either — for the province to grant an exemption from the law.

Parents on both sides of the issue, and three children made lastminute pleas to. The issue fiercely divided parents.

Parents from both camps and some trustees say they were dis- mayed by the animosity churned up by the debate over which students should leave the school. Some parents yelled and burst into tears at public meetings, while others said they felt uncomfortable in the schoolyard because of all the bitterness.

“I’m sorry ... the community has been so divided,” ward trustee Erica Braunovan said at Tuesday night’s meeting.

She said the solution was not equitable but trustees had little choice and she hoped parents could “find a way to forgive people who have said things that hurt us” and move forward as adults.

Parent Malaka Hendela had said that “sadly it will damage our community and impact kids no matter what the outcome.”

She said the board created the mess by not offering enough French immersion programs to meet the demand in the city core. When the English program students leave in September, Elgin Street school will become a centre for French immersion.

In an interview, parent Amanda Potts said she has friends on both sides of the issue, and parents at the school are “thoughtful and loving.

“It’s because the community is so valuable that people feel so deeply. We are ready for the process of healing.”