Anglophone West desperately seeking French immersion teachers

Anglophone School District West doesn't yet have all the French immersion teachers it needs for next year — or a plan for what to do if it can't find enough.

"We haven't planned that one out," superintendent David McTimoney said Thursday on Information Morning Fredericton.

• 6 more schools to offer early French immersion this fall 
• Plenty of questions at Grade 1 French immersion meetings 
• Jody Carr cautions Gallant government over French immersion entry point​

"Our focus right now is making sure that we find the teachers."

McTimoney made the statements as New Brunswick schools gear up to start offering early French immersion in Grade 1 starting in the fall.

The current entry point for early immersion, Grade 3, will be grandfathered in before being phased out.

The late entry point of Grade 6 will remain.

McTimoney couldn't provide numbers for how many teachers will be needed with the changes.

"It's hard for me to put my thumb on that this morning," he said. "We know that we still need more."

While the district has no backup plan if it can't recruit enough teachers, there have been discussions about what may have to be done.

"We've talked about contingency plans such as team teaching where we might have two teachers teaching two classes where one might have the proficiency at superior and the second might have a proficiency a little bit less," said McTimoney.