FORT FRANCES—Young parents may be the key to bringing back French Immersion to Fort Frances.
That was one of the strategies discussed at a town hall-style meeting of some 35 parents, students, and educators at La Place Rendez-Vous on Monday night.
“We really need the people with younger children to come forward and support the program,” stressed Marie Brady, president of the local chapter of Canadian Parents for French.
The CPF provided an “Intent to Register” form for parents of pre-schoolers to fill out to get an idea how many would enroll their children in French Immersion in the next four years if it was available here.
“Perhaps this is our best ticket, this ‘Intent to Register’ form,” Brady said.
She urged parents to submit the forms so the data could be compiled in advance of the Northwest Catholic District School Board’s next regular meeting June 17.
“I have two [pre-school] daughters that I had planned to enroll in French Immersion when the time came. I was extremely disappointed to hear that the program is being phased out,” said local parent Anne Renaud.
“It is my hope that the community will come together, as they did tonight, and encourage the school board to reconsider their decision,” she noted Monday.
“We came up with some great ideas and alternatives for the school board, and I hope that they will see that we are willing to be flexible in order to ensure the continuation of this program.”
Back in March, the board decided to phase out the French Immersion program in Fort Frances beginning with the senior kindergarten class at St. Michael’s School this fall.
The decision was based on low numbers—only eight of 40 students registered to begin SK in September were enrolled in the FI program.
Students already enrolled in French Immersion will be able to continue in the program until they graduate from Grade 8, though the board is retaining the right to review it should attrition levels rise.
Brady noted it is important to encourage parents whose children are currently in FI to keep them there—rather than switching them over to the English program in light of the board’s decision.
“The more attrition we have from the current program, the less likely our French Immersion students will be able to finish Grade 8,” she warned.
The local Catholic board had discussed the possibility of phasing out the program due to low enrolment for the last two years—and even held a public meeting in March, 2004 to encourage parents to enroll their children in French senior kindergarten to keep the program alive.
The board’s policy states the class cannot run with less than 20 students. Both years, trustees voted to continue to run the program despite enrolments of 17 for 2005/06 and 19 in 2004/05.
The constant uncertainty surrounding the program may have contributed to low registration numbers, some parents said.
“Parents are not going to put their children in a program that may or may not run,” said Renaud, adding they need a guarantee of at least three years to give the program a chance to succeed.
The loss of French Immersion could create further problems for the town, others said.
“French Immersion is a draw to our community. It’s an asset to Fort Frances,” Brady said. “Without French Immersion, our population will decline. I have not doubt in my mind that will happen.”
Families may leave town—or families looking to move to Northwestern Ontario may choose another community because of a lack of opportunities for their children, she explained.
Fort Frances Coun. Tannis Drysdale, whose daughter is in immersion, provided some statistics on the benefits of speaking French.
Forty percent of jobs in the federal civil service require bilingualism, she noted. Those 40 percent generally are higher-level jobs, including management and directorships.
“You will never become a decision-maker in this country if you don’t speak French,” Coun. Drysdale stressed. “No one from Fort Frances will ever grow up to be a director of one of these federal or provincial programs.”
Another study shows bilingual people aged 25-45 living in Ottawa, Toronto, and Montreal earn a 40 percent higher median income than their unilingual counterparts.
“[Speaking French] not only opens doors, it opens some nice bank accounts,” Coun. Drysdale said to laughter.
“The cancellation of French Immersion is a big loss for this community,” agreed Renaud. “A second language not only opens doors for the future, it opens minds, as well.
“In this global world that we live in, children will be at a great disadvantage if they are not open to new ideas and new cultures,” she added. “I believe that French Immersion gives children the skills that they need to thrive in this global economy.”
“We know the benefits of the program,” said David Shuh. “Somehow, we have to broaden the number of people who are aware of these opportunities.”
“People need to know the benefits of not just immersion but early immersion,” Brady noted.
The general consensus among the parents was that early immersion was the best option for children, rather than a middle or late immersion.
Some parents also suggested they approach the Rainy River District School Board to offer the program if the Catholic board refuses to revive it.
“By opening it up to the public board, you don’t have the issue of being Catholic or non-Catholic,” one parent noted.
Some parents aren’t aware that they don’t have to be Catholic to send their child to a Catholic school, another said.
While the Catholic board cited a declining regional population and the high cost of running smaller classrooms as reasons for the decision to phase out French Immersion here, one parent noted there is strength in numbers.
“There has to be support in the community for anything. The dollars and cents are almost secondary,” she said.
If enough people speak up, the board would have to reinstate the program despite the enrolment numbers, she added.
“A couple of parents have suggested a letter-writing campaign,” Brady noted, adding she had sample letters available.
Parents should be sending letters and/or making calls to the local Catholic board, as well as sending letters to the editor.
“Letters to the editor also work because it gets the message out to the community,” Brady remarked.
The consensus among the group was to “begin work on a promotional campaign that would be home-grown,” she noted.
“I really like the idea of having a campaign where we celebrate the success of our grads. We do have many successes,” Brady added.
The CPF will compile the data collected from the “Intent to Register” forms and another parent survey, and likely will present their findings to both the Catholic and public school boards.
“I think both boards recognize the benefits of the program,” Brady said. “It’s the commitment that we need.”
(Fort Frances Times)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
