Eliminating English-only education on table of OCDSB program review

More reaction is coming from parents as the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board looks to make major adjustments to its elementary programs including French immersion and how it is delivered.

More reaction is coming from parents as the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board looks to make major adjustments to its elementary programs including French immersion and how it is delivered.

“Certainly we could keep the existing program or make a new program and if we did a new program the question then is would it have to be for all students?” said Lynn Scott, OCDSB Board Chair of Trustees.

Living in Ottawa, Tamara McNulty knows being bilingual can be beneficial, so she enrolled her son in French immersion in kindergarten.

“Even though we are an English family, what I wanted was an opportunity for him to really start from the beginning and developing those French skills,” said McNulty.

But in Grade 2 McNulty said he started to struggle.

“We learned that he had a learning disability and that was impacting his learning and we made the tough decision to move him to an English school,” said McNulty.

As the OCDSB undergoes a review of its elementary programs, parents may no longer have a choice.