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It’s discrimination in either language
Gazette Editorial
“ It’s almost discriminatory,” said Steve Bletas, chairperson of Laval’s Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board, about the fact that homeowners affiliated with the town’s English-language board are being charged a higher school-tax rate than those affiliated with the local French-language board, the Commission scolaire de Laval. While discrimination might not have been the intent of the government measures, as it stands the situation is in fact discriminatory, period.
The problem arises from the Education Department’s formula for calculating school-tax rates and revenue levels that set a maximum school-tax rate as well as a maximum amount of tax revenue a board can collect. That maximum rate is 35 cents per $ 100 home valuation.
At that rate, the French-language board would have exceeded its maximum total amount and was therefore able to lower its rate down to about 30 cents per $ 100 valuation. Sir Wilfrid Laurier, with a substantially smaller tax base, meanwhile needs to tax at the maximum rate to get the money it needs. That means the English board taxes the owner of a $ 400,000 home $ 200 a year more than the francophone board does.
The discrepancy – and unfairness – is even greater in the Laurentian region where anglophone parents are taxed at the Sir Wilfrid Laurier rate while francophones come under a separate board that charges even less than the French-language Laval board.
There is a provision in place for boards, such as Wilfrid Laurier, with a tax base that can’t deliver the maximum total amount of revenue to receive equalization funding to make up the difference. There is a catch, however: To receive the equalization grant a recipient board must tax at the maximum level, which is what has led to the Laval situation. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that only homeowners with children who attend public schools in a given jurisdiction are required to pay taxes to the board whose schools their children attend. Others are free to choose the board to which they wish to pay the school tax, which, given the discrepancy in rates, could understandably prompt Laval anglophones with no children in school to pay their taxes to the French-language board, further eroding Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s tax base.
The board has complained to the Education Department and so far has been put on hold. An aide to minister Michelle Courchesne said late last week that the matter is being studied. The aide added that it is a complex situation in that the school tax formula is based on a range of factors, including size of territory, transportation requirements, the number of schools in a jurisdiction, etc. More simple is the fact that public education is a basic public service for which some people shouldn’t have to pay more than their neighbours, no matter what language they speak.
Même si elle considère que le ministère de l’Éducation a posé un geste «courageux» en décidant d’implanter un bulletin unique au Québec, la Commission scolaire de Montréal (CSDM) estime que plusieurs ajustements restent à faire avant que toutes les écoles de la province ne puissent l’appliquer
La présidente de la CSDM, Diane De Courcy, souhaite entre autres qu’une pondération nationale, un cadre de référence, une grille de correction ainsi que des directives claires soient fixées par le gouvernement. «Si toutes ces précisions sont communiquées avant le 30 septembre, on pourra produire les nouveaux bulletins pour janvier 2011. Mais sinon, on ne pourra pas les avoir avant la rentrée 2011», explique Mme De Courcy.
La présidente de la CSDM souhaite que les nouveaux bulletins uniques soient disponibles le plus rapidement possibles. «Mais la précipitation est mauvaise conseillère. N’improvisons pas. Prenons le temps de mettre des balises claires», dit Mme De Courcy.
Le 11 juin dernier, la ministre de l’Éducation, Michelle Courchesne, a présenté son nouveau modèle de bulletin unique, qui fait plus de place à l’évaluation des connaissances. Mme Courchesne, qui souhaite que le bulletin fasse son entrée dès septembre dans les écoles, donnait jusqu’à la fin juillet aux commissions scolaires pour se prononcer.
Déjà, la Fédération des commissions scolaires du Québec a jugé irréaliste l’adoption du bulletin dès septembre et a demandé son report. Dans son avis envoyé au ministère de l’Éducation (MELS), la CSDM ne demande pas, quant à elle, le report du bulletin, mais exige des précisions.
Par exemple, puisque l’évaluation des élèves ne se fera plus par cycles, mais bien à chaque année, Mme De Courcy souhaite que le gouvernement établisse une pondération pour les quatre étapes de l’année. Elle aimerait que chaque étape ne représente pas 25% de la note finale, mais qu’une pondération évolutive soit plutôt adoptée. Cette pondération devrait être imposée à toutes les écoles de la province, afin de pouvoir comparer les résultats des élèves, tant du réseau public que privé, selon Mme De Courcy.
La CSDM souhaite également qu’une meilleure définition des compétences soit donnée, afin que leur évaluation soit bien comprise. Car même si plus de place sera accordée à l’évaluation des connaissances dans le bulletin, les compétences (concept introduit avec le Renouveau pédagogique) continueront d’être évaluées. «Le programme actuel est bon. Mais il doit être bien compris et bien évalué», croit Mme De Courcy, qui affirme que les nouveaux bulletins n’entraîneront pas seulement des «changements cosmétiques», mais également quelques modification au Programme de formation de l’école québécoise.
Mme De Courcy mentionne que le bulletin a longtemps été un «drame national» au Québec. «Ça a assez duré, dit-elle. Le bulletin est un outil de communication aux parents et il doit être clair. Avoir un bulletin unique aidera. Mais quelques modifications doivent d’abord être apportées.»
New fire bylaw targets the mischievous
The Gazette BRENDA BRANSWELL GAZETTE EDUCATION REPORTER
MONTREAL – Montreal Island school boards have rung up more than $217,000 in fines since a new city bylaw to attack the problem of false fire alarms went into effect last year.
The fines stem from 189 of the 406 false alarms at the five island boards between February 2009 and this month. In 217 instances, it was a first false alarm and resulted only in a warning.
The Lester B. Pearson School Board objects to some of the charges levied under the bylaw. It has been hit with $15,300 in fines during that time period, according to the Montreal fire department.
“If we don’t maintain our equipment, I have no problem with that -we should be fined,” board chairperson Marcus Tabachnick said.
But he questioned whether school boards should be slapped with fines when mischief is at play.
“I’m not in any way looking for somehow to excuse a mischievous fire alarm,” Tabachnick said. “It’s a danger to everybody and it’s a cost to the city -I get it.
“I just don’t think it’s fair that school boards should have to pay that.”
The Pearson board passed a resolution in late April that has been sent to the four other Montreal Island boards, asking the city to change the bylaw “to eliminate any potential adverse effects” on the level of services the board offers students.
“Such fines far exceed the actual cost of the fire alarms to the city and therefore the school tax is being appropriated to subsidize municipal services,” the resolution reads.
Under the bylaw, schools and other high-risk properties receive a warning for the first false alarm, followed by an escalating series of fines -$250, $750 and $2,700 -for repeat incidents.
The bylaw was put in place to improve fire safety and vigilance, said Sylvain Carriere, an operations chief at the Montreal fire department. People no longer leave buildings when an alarm goes off because alarm systems aren’t maintained by owners, especially in structures that are subject to the building code and must have a system, Carriere said.
Another goal is to make sure firefighters and equipment are free to respond to real alarms and emergency medical calls.
Of the 406 unfounded fire alarms at Montreal Island school boards, 158 were due to defects in alarm system parts. “It could be a heat detector, it could be a smoke detector that was activated,” Carriere said.
The usual suspects -students -were presumably the culprits in some cases. There were 126 manual fire alarms that were set off in a mischievous way, Carriere said.
There are some discrepancies between the total fine amounts provided by the fire department and school boards. But the numbers show some boards have fared better than others. The English Montreal School Board has incurred more than $7,000 in fines for false alarms at seven schools. The steepest one was $2,758 for a false alarm at Laurier Macdonald High School on Jan. 21, the third such incident at the school in less than three months.
The Commission scolaire Marguerite Bourgeoys says it has received $53,800 in fines to date.
The Commission scolaire de la Pointe de l’Ile was hit with $32,371 in fines over the last school year -and $43,550 in total since February 2009, according to the fire department. The false alarms were sometimes due to work being done in a school or defects in the alarm system, said Christiane St. Onge, the board’s secretary-general and communications director.
The Pointe de l’Ile board, in the eastern and northeastern portions of the city, has received $14,000 from the fire department’s reimbursement program for property owners who want to improve their alarm systems, Carriere said. Property owners who have received at least one fine and paid it can apply to the fire department for a refund for part of the cost of installing or repairing the system that set off the false alarm.
Some schools have installed a box device on their manual alarms, which has reduced the number of false alarms from those stations by nearly 100 per cent, Carriere said. The device covers a manual fire alarm and will sound a local alarm, drawing attention to where the cover was lifted. A second action is required if the person really wants to activate the alarm. If other students are around, the culprit could get caught red-handed, Carriere added.
The Commission scolaire de Montreal, the province’s largest school board, has received $86,750 in fines. The CSDM launched an awareness campaign this past winter to inform students, parents and school staff about the bylaw. The board says it will seek $250 from a student or his or her parents each time a student is at fault for a false alarm.
bbranswell@thegazette.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
French counterpart has discount rate because its tax base is larger
THE GAZETTE Karen Seidman
It costs more to be an anglophone in Laval this summer.
When school tax bills went out recently, homeowners affiliated with the English-language Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board found themselves paying a higher tax rate.
Laurier board chairperson Steve Bletas said yesterday he’s furious that the government has done nothing to correct the situation.
“It’s almost discriminatory,” he said. “The English are paying more and the French are paying less.”
He said the reason behind the inequality is that the Commission scolaire de Laval exceeded the maximum amount of tax revenue it can collect and, subsequently, was able to lower its rate to about 30 cents per $ 100 home evaluation. Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s rate has been set by the Education Department at 35 cents per $100 evaluation.
The Education Department sets a maximum amount school boards can keep from taxation. Those whose tax base is less than that amount are given an equalization grant to make up the difference, but in order to receive the grant the board must tax at the maximum rate of 35 cents. But boards with a tax base above that amount – such as the Commission scolaire de Laval – must reduce their rate so as to collect no more than the maximum tax allowed.
The board has sent a letter to Laval taxpayers apologizing for the situation and promising to keep pursuing it.
Although Bletas said the government has refused to do anything to equalize the situation, an aide to Education Minister Michelle Courchesne said yesterday that the matter is still being studied.
“I can’t say when an answer will come,” said Cédrick Beauregard, adding that school tax rates are based on a formula that takes into account many factors, such as size of territory, transportation, number of schools and number of students.
Bletas said there was a smaller discrepancy between the two boards’ tax rates last summer, which the government corrected. He said he believes it’s only fair for the ministry to take similar action this year.
“This is going to really hit hard,” Bletas said. “Neighbours will wonder why they are paying more taxes than the guy next door.”
The situation could be exacerbated by the fact that people who have a choice of which school board they want to be affiliated with might begin to choose the French-language board, which could further erode Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s tax base.
Anyone with children in school must pay taxes to the board they attend. But other Quebecers can choose the local board they want – and Bletas figures Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s higher taxes aren’t going to be too appealing.
For example, for a house valued at $400,000, taxes to the French board would be $969, but for the English board the amount would be $1,171 – a difference of $202.
Laval resident Sylvain Fréchette, who is chairperson of the governing board at English-language St. Vincent elementary school, said it makes no sense to him that all taxpayers don’t pay the same.
On the island of Montreal, a central body regulates the tax for all boards.
Fréchette said his in-laws have elected to pay school taxes to the English board because it’s where their grandchildren go, but he wouldn’t be surprised if they switched to the French board, along with a lot of other people.
“I realize it’s probably just math, but the principle behind it isn’t fair,” Fréchette said.
Moving away from competency-based evaluations
THE GAZETTE Karen Seidman
The Education Department’s proposed changes to Quebec’s report cards got the blessing of the province’s largest school board yesterday, but it came amid continued grumbling and concern among other educators in the province who are reeling from the plan to steer away from competency-based evaluation.
While the Commission scolaire de Montréal is supporting the changes to report cards, board officials would like to see some modifications to the ministry’s plan and chairperson Diane De Courcy said she couldn’t see implementing the changes before January.
It was no surprise that the CSDM was in favour of the changes because the board – and its teachers – have been lobbying for a “clearer” form of evaluation.
But the board seems to be at loggerheads with others in the education field who are questioning the changes and the speed with which they may be introduced, which could be this September.
After 11 years of working to adapt to competencies, they are finding them being dismissed.
And private schools are worried that the integrity of their evaluations will be compromised by a universal report card that might not be as detailed as they would like.
Katherine Funamoto, head of the elementary school at Selwyn House, said it’s not known yet if the school will be able to issue the kind of detailed reports it has in the past.
Martin Bailly, headmaster of West Island College, said his school generally issues one report with marks and one with comments and competencies. He said he no longer knows if that is viable.
“I think about 60 per cent of French private schools issue three report cards a year, but the new reform calls for four,” he said.
Under the reform proposed in June, competencies would only be evaluated for such core subjects as math, English, French and, to some degree, science. Education Minister Michelle Courchesne said evaluating essential knowledge would better reflect the progress of students.
One of the key changes proposed by the CSDM is to ensure that the weight of each term – that is, what proportion of the overall mark is reflected in any one term – will be universal throughout the province and will include greater weighting in the final semester so teachers can use their judgment to evaluate students based on their progress through the year.
De Courcy said it was normal, after 10 years, for the reform to need some tweaking and said the changes to the report card weren’t an admission that the curriculum reform had failed, but rather “an opportunity to clarify things.”
But David Birnbaum, executive director of the Quebec English School Boards Association, said that any teacher will tell you that what you teach is always influenced by how you measure students’ achievement.
Source: Journal de Montréal
Sébastien Ménard
De plus en plus de parents se serrent la ceinture pour envoyer leurs enfants dans des établissements anglophones entièrement privés, au point où le nombre de ces écoles a augmenté de 75 % depuis cinq ans.
Des données obtenues par le Journal auprès du ministère de l’Éducation révèlent que 44 écoles privées non subventionnées étaient autorisées à offrir les services éducatifs en anglais «en tout ou en partie», l’an dernier.
Cela représente un bond de 19 établissements, par rapport à la situation qui prévalait en 2005-2006. Au même moment, le nombre d’écoles francophones privées non subventionnées a diminué.
En 2008, la ministre de l’Éducation, Michelle Courchesne s’était dite «inquiète» de la popularité grandissante de ces établissements privés, où ce sont les parents qui assument la totalité de la facture, contrairement aux écoles privées «traditionnelles» financées par l’État à hauteur de 60 %.
Pourtant, Michelle Courchesne et ses prédécesseurs Pierre Reid et Jean-Marc Fournier ont accordé pas moins de 37 nouveaux permis à autant d’écoles privées non subventionnées, au cours des cinq dernières années.
Quelques-unes ont fermé leurs portes, mais la majorité de celles qui opèrent toujours le font surtout en anglais.
Écoles Vision
Alors que les écoles publiques voient leur clientèle diminuer de façon constante, les établissements privés non subventionnés accueillaient l’an dernier 2 900 élèves de plus qu’il y a cinq ans.
Et la majeure partie de cette croissance était attribuable aux établissements anglophones. D’ailleurs, près de la moitié des 13 000 enfants inscrits dans ce réseau 100 % privé étaient scolarisés en anglais, en 2009-2010.
Invalidée par la Cour suprême l’an dernier, la loi 104, qui devait empêcher de passer par de tels établissements pour accéder en-suite à l’école publique anglaise, n’a visiblement pas découragé de nombreux francophones d’inscrire leurs enfants dans ces institutions anglophones 100 % privées, malgré les frais que cela engendre.
Le ministère de l’Éducation ne s’en cache pas et attribue d’ailleurs une partie du phénomène au réseau des écoles Vision, dont neuf établissements ont obtenu un permis distinct en 2006.
Ce réseau se targue d’offrir «aux enfants francophones un enseignement basé sur l’apprentissage des langues dans un contexte d’immersion.»
Déposé au début du mois de juin, le projet de loi 103, qui devrait remplacer la loi 104, n’inquiète pas les écoles Vision, bien au contraire.
«Le gouvernement a reconnu notre droit à poursuivre notre vocation distinctive de fournir un apprentissage plurilingue aux élèves», soulignent les dirigeants du groupe, dans un communiqué mis en ligne sur leur site Web.
Écoles évangéliques
Un autre phénomène pourrait expliquer la croissance du nombre d’écoles anglophones 100 % privées, selon la porte-parole du ministère de l’Éducation, Ahissia Ahua.
«En 2007-2008, huit écoles qui dispensaient des services éducatifs sans être titulaires d’un permis, dont les écoles évangéliques, ont régularisé leur situation», souligne-t-elle.
Ces «églises-écoles» évangéliques, qui basent une partie substantielle de leur «enseignement» sur un programme évangéliste texan, avaient défrayé la manchette en 2008 parce qu’elles accueillaient illégalement des élèves du secondaire.
Toutes détiennent un permis pour dispenser des services éducatifs en anglais.
Copyright © 1995-2008 Canoë inc. Tous droits réservés
(Journal de Montréal)
Sébastien Ménard
La popularité des écoles privées ne se dément pas. La proportion d’élèves qui les choisiront continuera de grimper au détriment du réseau public, en septembre prochain, ce qui préoccupe de nombreux observateurs.
Malgré toutes les campagnes menées pour «revaloriser l’école publique», 12,73% des élèves québécois se tourneront vers le réseau privé en 2010-2011, révèlent les plus récentes prévisions du ministère de l’Éducation obtenues par le Journal.
Il s’agit d’une légère augmentation par rapport à la situation qui prévalait l’an dernier et, surtout, d’un nouveau sommet.
La baisse démographique qui frappe de plein fouet les écoles publiques du Québec depuis plus d’une décennie affectera pour la première fois le réseau privé. Celui-ci devrait accueillir 124 587 élèves, en septembre prochain, une diminution de quelques centaines d’écoliers par rapport à l’an dernier. Mais cela n’a rien à voir avec le déclin marqué que connaît le réseau public, qui comptera quelque 12 000 élèves de moins qu’en septembre 2009, et 150000 de moins qu’il y a 10 ans.
Au total, cette situation fera grimper la proportion d’élèves qui opteront pour l’école privée au lieu de l’école publique (voir encadré).
Préoccupant
La popularité du réseau privé connaît une croissance légère, mais constante depuis 2005, un phénomène qui «préoccupe» le professeur Gérald Boutin, de l’UQAM. «L’augmentation n’est pas faramineuse, mais elle est constante, dit l’expert. On ne peut pas banaliser cette réalité-là.»
À son avis, la situation est attribuable «à l’image très idéalisée» que la société québécoise se fait des écoles privées.
La présidente de la Fédération des commissions scolaires du Québec, Josée Bouchard, abonde dans le même sens.
«Il y a encore des perceptions à l’effet que les parents qui envoient leurs enfants au privé auront de meilleurs services», déploret- elle.
Mme Bouchard reconnaît que plusieurs campagnes de sensibilisation ont été menées pour renverser la tendance, «mais ce n’est vraiment pas suffisant», dit-elle.
Chantal Longpré, de la Fédération québécoise des directions d’établissement d’enseignement, souligne que le réseau public doit faire preuve d’une «plus grande créativité» pour répondre aux besoins de tous les élèves qui lui sont confiés. «Les enseignants et les directions d’école, du privé comme du public, sont formés de la même façon, dit-elle. Il est faux de penser que l’enseignement privé est meilleur.»
Se réinventer
Selon Mme Longpré, «l’école publique doit se réinventer» si elle souhaite rivaliser avec le réseau privé.
«Il faut revoir tout l’aspect de l’autonomie de fonctionnement, toute la flexibilité et la capacité des écoles à prendre des décisions près de l’élève. C’est ce qui se passe au privé», dit-elle.
Les commissions scolaires souhaitent plutôt que le gouvernement lance «un vrai débat» sur le financement des écoles privées.
«On n’est pas contre l’école privée au Québec, mais avec un système qui est financé à 60 % par l’État, c’est un encouragement à se diriger vers le privé», croit Josée Bouchard.
Le professeur Gérald Boutin estime qu’il faut éviter de tomber dans «des positions très radicales», comme l’abolition complète des subventions aux écoles privées.
Il juge néanmoins qu’un financement public de 60 %, «c’est quand même très important par rapport à d’autres pays».
School’s earlier start time will increase daycare costs.
Karen Seidman / John Mahoney, The Gazette
Mia Archibald and her son Jeremie Morgan outside St. John Fisher School in Pointe Claire.
Archibald is behind a petition demanding the school not change the school day start time from 9 to 8 a. m.
An earlier start time at St. John Fisher elementary school for the new school year has sparked a war of words between parents who are opposed to the change and those who support it.
The opposing parents have started a petition, but so far, school board officials have been adamant that the request for an early start time came from the school’s governing board and that only a small group of parents aren’t happy with the change.
At a board meeting last week, governing board member Sandra Gesualdi said some parents had been “ bullied” into signing the petition and lamented the fact the change has caused parents to “ bicker.”
Parent Mia Archibald, who spearheaded the petition, said Gesualdi’s assertion was ridiculous and that she was still awaiting proof of the board’s contention that studies show an earlier start is beneficial academically to students.
The Pointe Claire school, which had started at 9 a. m., will be starting at 8 a. m. come September.
ACDSA Editorial comment: Although we currently are not privy to the inner details of the case, it does appear to us that the governing board information is woefully out of date. Please check time print of website With the LBPSB having control over its schools’ web pages, it is delinquent of the board not to update school Governing Board information.
Parents are correct that they are not being informed properly.Also, we do know that the school board will argue both sides of the early start issue depending on how it fits into its plans. In the past it has put forth arguments and research in supporting late starts; while in this case, it is arguing for early starts. We understand that decisions are made on busing requirements. What we do not understand is why they treat parents with such disdain and dishonesty. State the facts as to why a change has to happen but do not treat the community as fools by using both sides of the argument to get approval for your plan. It is insulting and just adds another reason as to why there is such distrust of the LBPSB in the general community.
The LBPSB with control over the LBPSB institutions’ web pages is delinquent in not keeping school Governing Board information up to date. Parents are correct that they are not being informed properly. Continue reading LBPSB, once again, ignores a valid petition and parental concerns while gleefully watching another school community implode.
Source: The Gazette
School boards should chop junkets
Last month, the National Assembly passed Bill 100, which imposed a 10-percent cut in public-sector administration costs by June 2014, and a cut of 25 per cent in spending on travel, training, and publicity, effective immediately.
Last week, Montreal Island homeowners received their annual school-tax bills, along with a slip that states: “ The school-tax bill finances about 20 per cent of the operating expenses of school boards.” ( That’s about $ 83.2 million.)
Soon, a delegation of English board commissioners will be travelling to Newfoundland to attend the costly annual Canadian School Boards Association Congress. Next year, they plan to be in Ontario. In 2012 it’s Manitoba, and so on. These trips are of no economic, cultural, or educational value to the English or French classrooms of Quebec.
In the spirit of Bill 100, maybe school boards should curb their spendthrift ways by eliminating the pricey, distant meetings and conferences that are funded by the overburdened, fed-up taxpayers.
Submitted by: Chris Eustace
Please find below an article published by the Hudson Gazette
LBPSB denounces Quebec ‘trusteeship’
by Nathalie Blais Hudson Gazette
Spending restraints imposed by the provincial education ministry are forcing the Lester B. Pearson School Board to further tighten its belt in fiscal 2010.
The $213,990,333 budget adopted by commissioners at Monday’s meeting was balanced by means of $704,250 from the board’s accumulated surplus, the maximum the board can access this year.
Technically, the board has $7,042,497 in the bank. However, the ministry has frozen all surpluses, allowing school boards to access only 10 percent per year, explains Carol Heffernan, the board’s senior director of finance.
LBPSB commissioners also adopted a resolution calling on the National Assembly to amend Bill 100, which imposes an an immediate 25 percent reduction in travel, publicity, and professional development and requires boards to cut administrative expenditures by 10 percent by the end of 2014.
This will be the last year until then that senior administrators receive performance bonuses, Heffernan said.
“The LBPSB and other boards have already demonstrated greater efficiency in their expenditure of public funds than any other level of government or public service in Quebec,” the resolution reads. “We are calling upon the government to respect the legitimate rights of school boards in Quebec to manage their own financial responsibilities.”
LBPSB chairman Marcus Tabachnick said the government’s micromanagement was tantamount to trusteeship.
“It really isn’t for someone sitting in an office in Quebec City to…arbitrarily impose cuts,” he said. “It is unacceptable that it is done at a distance not taking into account the needs of our kids.”
Also discussed was the process of rezoning attendance zones in the off-island communities in view of the $8-9 million elementary school in St. Lazare scheduled to open its doors September 2011. The 19-classroom school will house up to 450 students and feature a double gym, a multi-purpose room to be used as an agora/ cafeteria with a kitchen.
Commissioners were given the documentation on rezoning June 10. The board has begun school-zone discussions with parents’ committees and governing boards at off-island schools. If needed, a public consultation will take place in late October, with a final decision on the contentious busing issue by Nov. 29, in time for registration in the new school year.
Other changes:
· 2010/2011 will see the completion of phase two of the Eco Energy project. In this phase over $12 million will be spent upgrading boilers, lighting fixtures and energy controls in 27 LBPSB buildings with the goal of reducing green house gas emissions and cost savings which will go to educational programs.
· Continuation of the Kindergarten-for-four-year-olds program in five elementary schools in order to better prepare those students for the full-time educational program starting in Kindergarten.
Numerous language initiatives are coming into effect for the 2010-2011 school year including:
· Piloting of a Français Plus program in cycle 2 of St Edmund’s elementary school to begin with Grade 3 for the 2010-2011 school year and adding Grade 4 for the 2011-2012 school year;
· Offering a Language Plus program in three elementary schools whereby students can participate in language courses in Mandarin, Spanish and Italian;
· Expansion of the International Studies Program which will continue to welcome a growing number of students from China, Europe and South America to LBPSB schools, benefitting students from additional cultural exchanges while generating income;
· Expansion of the International Pre-Kindergarten Program whereby three and four-year-olds follow an educational program which includes instruction in three languages, English, French, and one of Spanish, Italian, or Mandarin. -with files from Jim Duff
Source: Hudson gazette
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