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The wild popularity of French immersion education in Ottawa’s English public schools may be creating a system of “social sorting” among students that is probably unique in the province, trustee Rob Campbell says.

Campbell says he suspects that students with special-education needs and newcomers learning English are streamed into the board’s English program.

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Trustees at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board voted last week in favour of Campbell’s motion asking staff to provide statistics on enrolment trends in both programs.

The numbers might not answer the question of why studying in English is increasingly unpopular at elementary schools in the city’s largest English-language school board, but they will provide a factual foundation for a discussion about whether there is a problem and, if so, what can be done about it.

Staff will compare students studying in English and in French immersion in each grade. How many have special-education needs? How many are just learning English? How many live in lower socio-economic neighbourhoods?