Skip to content

Parents lobby to increase French immersion

Waiting list in Vernon for French immersion kindergarten
web1_170316-VMS-M-cb-schools3_05-01-9

It was standing room only Wednesday night as parents crowded the Vernon School District board office to ask trustees for an additional French immersion kindergarten.

Beairsto parents with children on the waiting list for September were supported at the meeting by school principal Moira Manthorne, vice-principal Barry Mulvaney and aboriginal support worker Keith McLean.

“We’re here to discuss the opportunity of a fifth French immersion kindergarten class,” said Beairsto parent advisory council and DPAC representative Christie Tujik. “Due to the recent Supreme Court ruling, there are only 80 students placed in kindergarten versus the regular 88 as in previous years. This leaves about 23 students on our wait list.

“These students have every right to go to school in one of Canada’s languages. Another thing to consider is the catchment of these wait-listed students for the fall — some of these kindergarten students’ catchment area schools are full and those children would not only not get to go into French immersion but also possibly not in their catchment area school either.”

Parent Andrew Klingel expressed his concern that his youngest daughter is on the wait list and might not be able to attend the same school as her big sisters.

“So now we have the challenge of explaining to her that she can’t go to school with her big sisters,” said Klingel. “When I think about all the things we do — the PAC meetings, the parent-teacher nights, the fundraisers, splitting it across schools is difficult. Last year we had one daughter at day care, one daughter at Harwood and one daughter at Beairsto. My wife and I split our time, energy and money and we often missed events because we couldn’t be at two places at the same time and despite our best efforts I don’t think we really engaged at any school because we’re just spread a little bit too thin.

“Another challenge that we’re going to face is that immersion is a commitment on behalf of the whole family, so how do you explain to the youngest that she can’t participate. Do we tell her she can’t go to school with her sisters or do we take our other daughters out of a school that they love, a place that they’re thriving, to keep their family together. There are 17 little brothers and sisters who are looking forward to going to school with their siblings, and I hope there’s an opportunity to come together to keep our kids, our family and our community together. This will benefit our families in the community for years to come.”

Cheryl Dowler, vice-president of Canadian Parents for French Vernon branch, read a letter to trustees asking for their support, explaining that CPF strongly believes that in a nation where both French and English are official languages, all children should have access to a quality bilingual education and experiences.

Dowler said CPF appreciates the support given to the early French immersion program and that its popularity has meant that the district has continuously needed to manage Beairsto’s overcrowding, caused by both program growth and the change to full-day kindergarten. By 2012, the district had moved all kindergarten classes out of Beairsto and they now operate out of both Alexis Park and Harwood elementary schools.

“With no ability to construct French immersion kindergarten/Grade 1 split classes at Alexis Park or Harwood, the move capped French immersion kindergarten at 88 students,” said Dowler. “This winter, 99 in-district families attempted to register in FI kindergarten, 19 are currently wait-listed and 17 of those are children with siblings already at Beairsto.”

According to the district’s 2016 Long Term Facility Plan, Beairsto’s functional capacity is 515 — currently the school is home to 609 students.

“Beairsto’s overcrowding is felt in many different ways, from exasperating the pedestrian safety and traffic situation to finding quiet spaces to learn,” said Dowler. “Clearly, the French immersion program is suffering from growing pains.

“Numerous studies have shown the many benefits of learning a second language; therefore, we cannot think of a better ‘problem’ than French immersion growth issues. Parents in Vernon are willing to overcome significant barriers to give their kids this incredible learning opportunity.”

CPF is requesting that trustees establish a round table of stakeholders in order to facilitate a stable long-term growth solution of the French immersion program.