October 29, 2008

Natasha Etherington
President, CPF RidgeMeadows
604 612 4807


Dear Board of Trustees:

URGENT French in limbo at Webster's Corners - Times Newspaper October 28, CPF Response

Canadian Parents for French – Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows was very pleased to hear last May that the Board had approved a motion to conduct a survey starting this fall to gauge interest in initiating an early French immersion program at Webster's Corner Elementary. Therefore it was disheartening to hear that the School District is now considering delaying the survey until after the Ministry of Education has announced whether it will go ahead with plans to offer full day Kindergarten across the province.

The full day Kindergarten model was proposed as an educational choice. "Many families have told us they want more options and choice for their children and this is about exploring those options," said [Minister of Education Shirley] Bond. (Ministry of Education News, July 18) We view full day Kindergarten as an interesting concept, but we don't believe it should exclude the possibility of also running French immersion in Webster's Corner Elementary.

It is our view that the survey must be done now on the assumption that if there are enough parents interested, the program would have to be promoted at the Kindergarten information evening in January. If the full day Kindergarten idea is quashed by the Ministry and the survey hasn't been undertaken, another year could pass before the survey was carried out, in which case a new program wouldn't start until September 2010. Parents of students ready to begin school in September will have lost the opportunity to start their children in French immersion in September 2009.

We respectfully ask that you follow through with the motion that your Board of Trustees passed last May. Let us connect now with our community and ensure that local values and priorities are reflected in public school programs, policies and operations. To that end, CPF-Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows is happy to help ensure the survey is conducted in a timely manner.

Yours sincerely,

Natasha Etherington
President, CPF Ridge Meadows
www.cpf.bc.ca/ridgemeadows
604 612 4807