Peter Walsh/Telegraph-Journal
Cara Miller says her son Liam, age 5-1/2, will have to switch schools twice in order to attend French immersion classes.
Because of the new system, her shy little boy, Liam, may now have to switch schools twice to participate in immersion classes.
Fresh out of kindergarten, Liam was set to enter Grade 1 at Millidgeville North, an immersion school in Saint John - until Education Minister Kelly Lamrock took the axe to early immersion in grades 1 and 2.
Because it was an immersion-only school, Millidgeville will no longer offer any classes in kindergarten or Grade 1. Grade 2 will be phased out after this year and Millidgeville will permanently become a grades 3 to 8 school.
That means Liam faces two potential moves in his formative years. He has no choice but to switch out of Millidgeville in September in order to complete Grade 1. But the other school in his area, St. John the Baptist, does not offer immersion in any grade - so, in order to enter the program in Grade 3, Liam would be looking at another move, back to Millidgeville.
"My little guy, he's very quiet," Miller said. "It takes him a long time to warm up to kids. He was really starting to come out of shell. I'm worried this (move) is going to bring him down and crush him."
The only other option, Miller said, would be to enroll Liam in a school outside of the family's region, such as Forest Hills. But the district provides transportation only to the schools designated for each student's community - in Liam's case, either Millidgeville or St. John the Baptist.
In addition, such intradistrict transfers would only be accepted if space allowed. Priority is given to children living in the school's community, said Susan Tipper, superintendent of District 8 in Saint John.
Miller said her situation proves the government moved too quickly to implement reforms to the French second-language program. At the very least, she said, a grandfather clause should be in effect for children such as her son.
"The reasonable thing to do would be to grandfather children who were in (Millidgeville), to allow them to continue in Grade 1 and 2 so they don't have to be bounced around like that," Miller said.
Miller is not the only one in this predicament. Michelle Durelle, a single mother who works full-time as a credit granter at Irving Oil, had registered her daughter, Jenna, for kindergarten at Millidgeville.
But in light of Lamrock's recent decision, Jenna also faces the prospect of being bounced over to St. John the Baptist for her first few years, and then back to Millidgeville for immersion. Jenna had already attended a "welcome to kindergarten" session at Millidgeville, Durelle said, noting the situation is bound to confuse her daughter.
Like Miller, Durelle wants the government to extend a grandfather clause to all students who were attending or were registered to attend Millidgeville in kindergarten or Grade 1.
"I'm kind of in a bind," Durelle said, noting she had made inquiries to the district about the possibility of an intradistrict transfer, but thus far has heard nothing back. "I'm at the point where "¦ I don't know what I'm doing with my kid."
Durelle and Miller say they have accepted Lamrock's decision to eliminate immersion in the early grades, but both feel strongly that there should have been more notice.
"I realize there has to be a cut-off point; I get that," Durelle said.
According to Tipper, parents of children who were enrolled in the early grades at Millidgeville are in a unique situation, and not only because of the immersion decision.
A proposal has been on the table since last year to turn Millidgeville into a middle school, housing only Grades 6 through 8, Tipper noted. If that happens, the school would not be capable of offering early immersion in any form.
Currently, all students enrolled in the school from grades 2 through 8 will be allowed to take the program through to graduation, regardless of any future changes, Tipper added.
Those who had completed or registered for kindergarten - the only grade level that was non-immersion - have been transferred to St. John the Baptist starting in September, she said. Tipper agreed this may lead a number of parents to move their students back to Millidgeville after Grade 2, assuming it does not become a middle school.
"That is a potential, because the Grade 3 entry point for immersion is only where numbers warrant," Tipper said, noting the program has not been warranted at St. John the Baptist in the past. But if demand rises, it could be offered in future, she added.
Intradistrict transfer applications were still being accepted, Tipper said, noting the actual transfers may not occur until mid-September, when student numbers have had a chance to settle down.
By using them, I've reduced the sandwich bags to about 1 box every six months instead of every couple of grocery orders.