Update on Upper Grand’s French Review
February 1, 2016
GUELPH, Ontario – Staff will move forward with a number of recommendations of the French Review Committee, and will plan public information sessions across the district to provide information on the French Review report.
The board offers Core French and French Immersion (FI) at the elementary and secondary level. FI has been offered by the UGDSB for the past 40 years and has seen incredible success, with enrolment increasing steadily each year.
With this success, however, comes pressure to manage the sustainability of the program. The increased growth rate of the FI program in the UGDSB has led to significant pressure accommodating students, multiple boundary reviews, and difficulty hiring enough qualified teachers.
At the January 26 board meeting, trustees approved a number of recommendations from the report, many of which address recruiting practices for hiring French language teachers.
Trustees approved a recommendation that the board send a request to the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA) to advocate on behalf of English public school boards for a comprehensive provincial review of French as a Second Language funding levels and qualified teacher availability.
Trustees moved to defer a number of the report recommendations until the May board meeting. These include all recommendations made regarding program enrolment.
Trustees also directed staff to create a plan for four public information sessions on the UGDSB French Review, and that the draft plan be presented at Business Operations meeting on February 9. Information about the public information sessions, including dates and locations, will be provided following the Business Operations meeting.
If you would like to receive notification when new information is posted on the French Review, please sign up on the UGDSB French Review website.
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For more information:
Heather Loney, Communications and Community Engagement Officer
519-822-4420 ext.725
[email protected]
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