School trustees for the Grand Erie District School Board have passed a tentative motion on Nov 9/15 that will eliminate JK and SK from a very successful and growing French Immersion (FI) program in Brantford/Brant county.

Paradoxically, the cut is part of "growth accommodation" proposal.

Should the decision be finalized, there will be many issues to surface: Enrolment will undoubtedly decline causing a boomerang, as parents will be resistant to uprooting their child after two years at their home school... The future of the FI kindergarten teachers has not been discussed... Hard earned tax dollars invested in 6 kindergarten classes being built as part of the current redevelopment project at Coronation school will be wasted... We have just celebrated the success of implementing full day kindergarten, to now be faced with the possibility of it being eliminated altogether... Families with more than one child will see their older children separated from their kindergarten-aged siblings... Logistics will be complex and stressful for parents, with juggling pickup/drop off times and getting to children at multiple locations during inclement weather & emergency situations... And a large body of research supports second language immersion to be introduced as early as possible... Yet, the solution being tabled is moving toward the contrary.

Collectively, these issues will deeply impact every child's second language acquisition and every family's overall school experience.

The GEDSB will be making its final decision for the recommendation on November 23, 2015 - Please help in voicing our opinion that the FI program in Brantford/Brant county is growing exponentially for good reason. It is our intention to send a message to our elected body of trustees regarding how important the proliferation of FI is to our community, as well as for the future generations of our bilingual country.

Don't cut the heart out of a thriving program, vote to save JK/SK French immersion for Brantford/Brant county. Put our children first.

Details: http://www.granderie.ca/programsandservices/French...

Send comments to the board: info@granderie.ca