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Even the children and household pets are being catapulted into the tense debate over what to do about overcrowding at Elgin Street Public School.
Grade 5 student Maria Gagnon was circulating a petition this week during recess in support of one side in the dispute that has divided parents in the downtown school. She got about 50 signatures in favour of moving kindergarten students out of the school before principal Laura Frappier shut down the pint-sized exercise in schoolyard politics.
Frappier, in a statement released through the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, said she was proud of Maria’s initiative and research into the issue, but asked her to withdraw the petition because students in the kindergarten to Grade 6 school may not be fully informed of the facts or realize what they are signing. And the issue, which has featured parents yelling at each other in public meetings, may be causing the kids anxiety.
Maria’s mom Mei-Lin Gagnon said they gladly agreed. The principal is terrific, they respect her opinion and neither she nor her daughter want to increase tension at the school, said Mei-Lin.
Parents love Elgin Street PS, and want their kids to stay there. But the small school doesn’t have room for all the students expected to enrol in September, and some kids will have to move across Centretown to Centennial Public School.
The board has already decided to ship the kindergarten students to Centennial, although the issue is up for reconsideration at Tuesday’s board meeting. The parents of kindergarten kids are outraged. They support the other option, a staff proposal to send students in the English program to Centennial, and turn Elgin Street PS into a centre for French immersion.
Maria’s petition isn’t the only one under scrutiny in the fight. Parent Angeleen Nayak, in a brief to the school board, says a petition filed by parents in the kindergarten-should-stay camp may have padded their numbers.
“Husbands and wives from the same family (double counting), grandparents, relatives, neighbours, friends and names of pets don’t count as they are not active stakeholders of our school community,” said her brief. Pets on the petition? A quick scan of the 119 signatures does not reveal any suspicious entries such as Muffy or Rover.
Nayak, in a telephone interview, said her brief was not meant to be taken literally. She was trying to make the point that the petition gives a misleading view of how many households would be affected if the kindergarten kids move.
Parents from both camps were set to make their case to trustees at the board meeting Tuesday. Both sides say they would be inconvenienced and their children would suffer if they had to leave the school. A brief from parents supporting the English program says kids would be traumatized if forced to leave Elgin Street after attending the school for several years. Parents of kindergarten kids argue the youngest children are least able to cope with disruptions, and cite research showing such transitions in the first few years of school negatively affect test scores on reading, math and writing.
Everyone is waiting to find out if the board’s decision made in February to ship the kindergarten students to Centennial is even legal. A lawyer has advised the board that the move would be a violation of the Ontario Education Act, which says every elementary school must offer full-day kindergarten.
Board staff were to give their opinion at Tuesday’s meeting.
查看原文...
Grade 5 student Maria Gagnon was circulating a petition this week during recess in support of one side in the dispute that has divided parents in the downtown school. She got about 50 signatures in favour of moving kindergarten students out of the school before principal Laura Frappier shut down the pint-sized exercise in schoolyard politics.
Frappier, in a statement released through the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, said she was proud of Maria’s initiative and research into the issue, but asked her to withdraw the petition because students in the kindergarten to Grade 6 school may not be fully informed of the facts or realize what they are signing. And the issue, which has featured parents yelling at each other in public meetings, may be causing the kids anxiety.
Maria’s mom Mei-Lin Gagnon said they gladly agreed. The principal is terrific, they respect her opinion and neither she nor her daughter want to increase tension at the school, said Mei-Lin.
Parents love Elgin Street PS, and want their kids to stay there. But the small school doesn’t have room for all the students expected to enrol in September, and some kids will have to move across Centretown to Centennial Public School.
The board has already decided to ship the kindergarten students to Centennial, although the issue is up for reconsideration at Tuesday’s board meeting. The parents of kindergarten kids are outraged. They support the other option, a staff proposal to send students in the English program to Centennial, and turn Elgin Street PS into a centre for French immersion.
Maria’s petition isn’t the only one under scrutiny in the fight. Parent Angeleen Nayak, in a brief to the school board, says a petition filed by parents in the kindergarten-should-stay camp may have padded their numbers.
“Husbands and wives from the same family (double counting), grandparents, relatives, neighbours, friends and names of pets don’t count as they are not active stakeholders of our school community,” said her brief. Pets on the petition? A quick scan of the 119 signatures does not reveal any suspicious entries such as Muffy or Rover.
Nayak, in a telephone interview, said her brief was not meant to be taken literally. She was trying to make the point that the petition gives a misleading view of how many households would be affected if the kindergarten kids move.
Parents from both camps were set to make their case to trustees at the board meeting Tuesday. Both sides say they would be inconvenienced and their children would suffer if they had to leave the school. A brief from parents supporting the English program says kids would be traumatized if forced to leave Elgin Street after attending the school for several years. Parents of kindergarten kids argue the youngest children are least able to cope with disruptions, and cite research showing such transitions in the first few years of school negatively affect test scores on reading, math and writing.
Everyone is waiting to find out if the board’s decision made in February to ship the kindergarten students to Centennial is even legal. A lawyer has advised the board that the move would be a violation of the Ontario Education Act, which says every elementary school must offer full-day kindergarten.
Board staff were to give their opinion at Tuesday’s meeting.
查看原文...
