Ottawa

French immersion changes in JK to Grade 3 delayed

An Ottawa Carleton District School Board committee has put off a decision on changes to French immersion in kindergarten to Grade 3 after parents complained there wasn't enough informed consultation.

Delay means changes wouldn't be implemented until Sept. 2017

Dozens of parents attended a Tuesday night meeting to call on the Ottawa Carleton District School Board to delay the vote on the proposed changes to French immersion. (CBC News)

An Ottawa Carleton District School Board committee has put off a decision on changes to French immersion in kindergarten to Grade 3 after parents complained there wasn't enough informed consultation.

A majority of school board trustees voted Tuesday night to delay the decision after parents spoke against it. 

The delay means changes, if approved at a later date, wouldn't be implemented until September 2017.

The plan would expand French immersion to all children for half the day (from 20 minutes per day to 150 minutes) in junior and senior kindergarten.

It would also reduce the number of hours of French immersion from Grades 1 to 3 for the children who stay with French immersion (from 300 and 240 minutes per day to 180 minutes).

The changes are being recommended by the board as a result of Ontario's new two year full-day kindergarten program.

The parent council at Elmdale Public School in the Hampton Park neighbourhood opposes the change, arguing that the OCDSB failed to provide enough detailed information to parents and that the original consultation process over three weeks wasn't long enough.