With a new board of school trustees who have just started, many residents are wondering whether or not this new group will serve the needs of every student.
Will the school trustees now deliver quality education, protect mandated programing, implement methods of managing French Immersion programming, ensure community schools are open to neighbourhood children and develop rules to ensure balanced enrollment exists in dual track schools?
Two immediate concerns for Oakville Ward 4 are:
- Palermo Public School’s enrollment remain balanced which will require boundary changes (not the 5 to 1 inequality that favours FI that current exists).
- New Ward 4 high school’s accommodation/programming protect mandated programming not just optional FI programming. Although high school funding is not given in the same way as elementary schools, FI enrollment must be controlled (if FI is to be included at all) in order to ensure the new high school’s enrollment is not overtaken by FI programming.
Will the new trustees vote to implement policy to protect equal access for all?
We as a community will be watching closely. Residents will work with international media to showcase not only our trustees’ decisions but how the decisions affect how education is delivered in our community.
All of the children in Halton deserve to have:
- Access to community schools.
- Equal access to programs.
- Sustainable methods of delivering all optional programs.
- Access to quality French education that is available at neighbourhood schools in a fair way that does not jeopardize the makeup of classes and/or schools.
- Review and support for the inclusive model of delivering education.
- Increase self contained classrooms as required.
All children deserve equal access to the funds designated for education protecting all needs not the segregated and special interest funding/voting that some community residents believe has occurred in the past.
We welcome input from the HDSB as well as all members of the public. Let us know what you think.
