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Parents propose solutions to planned Holy Family French kindergarten cuts

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A London District Catholic school board plan to cut French immersion junior kindergarten at Woodstock’s Holy Family elementary school prompted parents to propose “unique solutions” at a public input meeting Wednesday.

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The board outlined a plan earlier this year to cut French immersion junior kindergarten at Holy Family beginning in September 2020 and cap senior kindergarten enrolment to 26 students the following year in an effort to offset a teacher shortage and limit the number of portables needed at the school.

“If we continue, we will require three extra classrooms in four years. Eliminating (French) junior kindergarten will only postpone the space issue,” said Debbie Jordan, the board’s superintendent of business, at Wednesday’s meeting.

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But parent presentations on Wednesday evening proposed alternatives – “a unique solution for a unique school” – to answer to a shortage of teachers and space.

“We propose converting (the cafeteria space) to house the library. The current library area is large enough and situated so it can be converted into two classrooms,” said school council member Laura Langford.

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Langford said the board should consider the space constraints at Holy Family “good problems to have,” as Holy Family’s enrolment, the City of Woodstock and the demand for French education continue to grow.

Holy Family currently has 11 classrooms and a portable, and adding more portables to the extremely small school property isn’t a possibility, board staff have said.

Langford also raised the possibility that senior students in grades 7 and 8 could be taught at St. Mary’s Catholic high school, a school parents say is currently under capacity and would help ease space concerns at the packed elementary school while giving students access to resources such as science labs.

Langford said the parent council proposed capping junior kindergarten enrolment this year to 17 students, meaning there will just be two kindergarten classes to help alleviate space concerns in the short term.

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Another parent presentation also raised the issue of teacher recruitment, asking the board to expand advertising, promoting French teaching as a careers option to current French immersion students and expanding co-op programs.

“We would like to see a long-term plan developed to help address French teacher supply needs,” Jayme Shaughnessy said.

The proposal to eliminate junior kindergarten and cap senior kindergarten enrolment is part of a package of proposals presented to trustees at their January board meeting. The proposals also include reducing French programming at St. Mary’s high school to extended French instead of French immersion while adding new extended French programming at St. Joseph’s high school in St. Thomas.

While the new programming in St. Thomas were approved,the  changes to Woodstock schools were postponed until there could be public consultation.

“Holy Family is full, our city is growing and parents want to send their kids to our school,” Langford said. “There are obvious dilemmas that come with that situation.”

The board is expected to hear a staff report on the issue on Feb. 24, 2020.

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