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The issue at hand is that there is far greater demand for Elementary French Immersion programs, than there are qualified teachers. At the same time, Elementary English class sizes are as low as four students for one teacher in dual track schools. This scenario is not a viable option for the Halton District School Board. The board wants input on how parents/public would like to address this issue.

The Halton District School Board has put together recommendations that can be found on page 9 (page numbers found at the bottom of the page) of the Board Meeting Agenda dated June 1, 2016. They range from blending grades for English classes that fall below the 23 student threshold, so there could be a Grade 1-2-3 blended English class, to redirecting English students to another school. Another recommendation is that Core French would be taught to all students starting in grade one, and thereby eliminate French Immersion in dual track schools. In this case no new dual track schools would be constructed.

The Halton District School Board has established a special delegation evening on Monday, June 13, 2016 to hear responses to the Program Viability report and recommendations regarding English and French Immersion elementary programming. The Director’s report will go to the Board of Trustees for a decision on June 15, 2016. The report will first be shared, for information and discussion, with Trustees at the June 1, 2016 Board meeting.

Members of the public interested in delegating the Board are required to register by Tuesday, June 7 (noon) via email to Gail Gortmaker, Manager of the Director’s Office at gortmakerg@hdsb.ca. Written materials are to be emailed to the same address by noon on Thursday, June 9. Delegates will be listed on the agenda in the order delegation requests were received, and will have five minutes to present their delegation materials.

Special delegation nights follow the same registration process as delegations to a regular Board meeting. Delegation information is outlined in the Board’s delegation By-law, and identifies the need for written registration to be a delegate, as well as the submission of materials prior to the delegate’s five-minute presentation. The By-law can be found on the Halton District School Board website by searching ‘delegation’ in the search engine.

The delegation evening will be held on Monday, June 13, 2016 at the J.W. Singleton Education Centre, 2050 Guelph Line, in Burlington beginning at 6 p.m. Members of the public are invited to attend.