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PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2006.
St. Marys may get French immers ion
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
With costs as high as
approximately $140,000 on one side
of the scale, and an opportunity to
provide a specialized program for a
rural area on the other side, trustees
of the Avon Maitland District School
Board will consider expanding
French immersion to the St. Marys
area.
Administrative staff have
informed trustees they will be asked
at their next regular meeting
Tuesday, Feb. 14, to decide on
beginning a program September,
2006 at South Perth Centennial
elementary school at RR1, St.
Marys.
Advance notification was
provided in a report delivered
Tuesday, Jan. 24 by education
superintendent Pat Stanley.
The Feb. 14 decision "would allow
ROBERTA (CRAIG) SIMPSON
Mrs. Roberta (Craig) Simpson of
Brussels and formerly of Blyth
passed away peacefully at Huronlea
Home, Brussels, on Thursday, Jan.
26, 2006. She was in her 90th year.
Mrs. Simpson was the beloved
wife of the late John Simpson who
predeceased her in 1990. She was
the loving mother of Joan and
Donald Deitner of Grey Twp and
cherished grandmother of Anthony,
Francis and Madelaine. Mrs.
time for the program to be factored
into elementary staffing for the
2006-07 school year," states the
report, which outlines the projected
costs and logistics of welcoming
Grades 1 and 2 students into the new
program. It would operate in a
separate classroom at South Perth
Centennial, and some level of
transportation would be available for
students across the St. Marys
district.
Currently, the board has one
French immersion program, based
initially at Bedford elementary
school in Stratford but most recently
expanded to include Grades 7 and 8
students who have moved on fo
attend the senior elementary portion
of Stratford Central Secondary
School (all Stratford Grades 7 and 8
students in the Avon Maitland
system attend separated programs
within one of the city's two
secondary schools).
Simpson was the dear sister and
sister-in-law of Annie Wight of
Listowel, William and Isabelle Craig
of Blyth and Olive Faitz of Stoney
Creek.
She was predeceased by her
parents Robert and Ada May Craig,
and by sisters and brothers and their
spouses Agnes Craig, Ada May
Craig, Harvey and Margaret Craig,
Velma and Orval Cook, Gordon and
Ruth Craig, Margaret and Ed Craig,
Mary Craig, David Craig, and Steve
At the time of the Bedford
program's establishment in 2000,
investigations were also made into
offering French immersion in other
communities, but it was felt there
was insufficient interest.
In the past couple of years, a group
called Canadian Parents For French
has appeared before Avon Maitland
trustees on more than one occasion,
lobbying for French immersion
expansion. Following a series of
information-gathering meetings last
year, an initial decision was made to
abandon plans for expansion.
But further pressure from the
group eventually resulted in a
request from trustees to hold
preliminary registrations in St.
Marys, Exeter, Goderich, Clinton,
Wingham, Mitchell and Listowel.
Entry into French immersion has
proven most successful for Grades 1
and 2, and administration advised
studying each location further if a
Faitz.
Friends were received, at the Blyth
Visitation Centre of the Falconer
Funeral Homes, 407 Queen St.,
Blyth on Sunday from 2 - 5 p.m. and
on Monday, Jan. 30 from 1 p.m.
until the time of the service at 2 p.m.
Spring interment will be in Blyth
Union Cemetery.
As expressions of sympathy
memorial donations to the charity of
one's choice would be greatly
appreciated.
threshold of 21 Grades 1 and 2
students was , achieved during those
registrations, held in early
December.
Only the St. Marys preliminary
registration came even close, with 19
students expressing interest, but
education director Geoff Williams
said administration wanted to "err on
the safe side" and examine the
possibility of expansion despite not
Quite reaching the threshold.
In the registration process,
Mitchell was next with 11 students,
followed by Exeter and Listowel
with nine, Wingham with eight,
Clinton with six and Goderich with
five. (The Huron-Perth Catholic
District School Board offers French
Immersion programs in Stratford
and Goderich.) No examination for
expansion will be made in those
communities.
According to Perth South trustee
Carol Bennewies, 11 of the 19
potential registrants already attend
South Perth :Centennial, a rural
school which serves communities in
the former Blanshard Twp. such as
Rannoch, Anderson, Kirkton and
Whelan's Corners, as well as the
area directly surrounding the Town
of St. Marys. Bennewies said she
heard from a parent that most of
those children would not attend the
program if it was not in their home
school.
In the first years of the program, a
small-sized bus would be provided
to bring other students from St.
Marys. Other additional costs would
be for teachers, classroom resources,
and possibly the provision of a vice
principal for South Perth Centennial
who would have responsibility for
the French immersion portion of the
school.
There are specific government
grants which assist in the provision
of French immersion but, according
to the report from Stanley, they are
inadequate for covering a program in
a board like Avon Maitland and
smaller communities like St. Marys.
In what Williams referred to as a
"worst-case scenario," calculations
in the report suggest it's possible the
total cost of providing the program
would be as much as $145,494,
while the extra grants received
would total just $6,137.
The difference — almost
$140,000 — would have to come out
of some other portion of the board's
budget.
Bennewies expressed surprise the
difference could be so large.
And she wasn't alone. Board chair
Meg Westley asked Williams to
clarify that much of the new
program's cost would have to be
found somewhere in the board's
existing budget.
And she urged administration to
provide as much information and
advice as possible to trustees, prior
to their Feb. 14 decision.
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