Some parents planning to camp out for French immersion spots for their children

By Tina Comeau and Michael Gorman

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

It seems that getting into the late French immersion program at Maple Grove is a lot like scoring tickets to a concert or the Stanley Cup finals — the earlier you line up, the better your chances.

And parents don’t like it.

“The way we’re looking at it the school board is comparing our kids’ education to a rock concert where a bunch of teenagers who have nothing to do with their time line up for two days to go see Ozzy Osbourne or ZZ Top,” says parent Jennifer Cunningham, who hopes to get her son into the program.

Thirty-four students have applied for the program, however there are only 30 spots available. After the application process was completed, parents received a letter saying that the first 30 parents to arrive at the school at a designated door on Wednesday, June 4 at 7 p.m. would get a spot for their child in the program.

Some parents say that’s ridiculous.

“Now they’re going to have a so-called race to the gate to see whose kids are going to get in and whose kids are not going to get in?” says Cunningham, who knows of parents who are intending to camp out on the lawn at Maple Grove starting Tuesday to ensure they have a spot in the program. Cunningham says she and her husband both work fulltime so that’s not an option for them. Regardless, she doesn’t feel any family should be put in that situation.

“They’re comparing our kid’s education to a rock concert, where you have to go line up at the door and see which four kids are not going to get the education they wanted,” she says.

Students who don't get a slot at Maple Grove would be offered a transfer to Yarmouth Junior High School to attend the immersion program there where 16 students are registered. But families would have to look after their own transportation, which for some is not a viable option. There is the possibility of students finding room on a bus traveling into town, but that also means they’re separated from their peers Cunningham says.

Debbie Hamilton, whose child applied for the program, also questions the method being used to grant spots in the program.

"Should I go at six in the morning? Should I go the night before? If I got there at 3 p.m. and there are already 30 people ahead of me, well, I might as well leave."

She is also concerned that some people who applied for the Maple Grove program might actually be closer to Yarmouth Junior High, an option that isn't as easy for Hamilton, who lives in Carleton.

But the Tri-County Regional School Board says it is only following board policy, which states that if demand for the program exceeds a cap of 30 students registration is done on a first-come, first-serve basis.

“Thirty was deemed to be the cut-off for valid reasons,” says Steven Gaudet, the board’s coordinator of French second language. “Not only do you have to contend with the students transitioning in a new school, over and above that there’s the struggle of having to learn that second language, which for some students is very difficult. So it’s a lot of work for the teacher to try and accommodate all of those students, so at some point there has to be a cutoff.”

Gaudet says there are some people who may even argue 30 students are too many.

On the flip side, some might say why not add the extra four?

“But if 34, why not 35?” says Gaudet. “We had to put the cut-off somewhere.”

Asked about demand for the late French immersion program, Gaudet says it hasn’t been since the days of the Central school early French immersion many years ago – when parents used to line up at four in the morning to get their kids into that program – that the board has had to revert to a first-come, first-serve basis.

He says in both the late and early immersion programs, demand and interest varies from year to year, school to school.

There used to be two classes of late French immersion at Maple Grove, but the second class was dropped in the past because of overall declining enrollment in schools.

Meanwhile, parents like Jennifer Cunningham aren’t happy with the prospect of having to line up to get into the program. She says everyone should have the same, fair chance of accessing an education in French.

“I just find it kind of frustrating as a parent,” she says. “I work full-time, my husband works full-time and we can’t afford to go out and camp out two days at Maple Grove.”