ae AES “one - Be . ree oe Terrace Review — Wednesday, June 22, 1988 5

Objections |
‘heard to
French
Immersion
decision

TERRACE — The final meeting
of the school year for the board
of School District 88 was held
June 14, took three hours
and wrapped up much of the
board’s public business for the
. summer, co
A prominent feature of the
meeting was a 30-minute grilling
of Board Chair Val Napoleon by
a delegation from Terrace Par-
ents for French, who took issue
with the board’s decision not to —_— _ — ne
implement a secondary school At the final public meeting of the school year for the board of School District 88, Skeena school science teacher

French Immersion program for Al Wootton showed trustees one of the major projects he and his students worked on this year — a Newtonian
the coming school year. — . reflecting telescope.

Napoleon explained that the
board had been forced tq cut
$550,000 from the original draft
of this year’s budget, a sum
which included the salary for a
full-time coordinator of French

| studies for the district. She said
it was a difficult decision, but
pointed out that funding for the
secondary program would have
had to come from the budget for
the primary and elementary pro-
grams, programs which a recent
assessment indicates are in need

of help. 8 oS -
The French Immersion pro- a fey ) |

gram began six years ago at kin- ns A
dergarten level, and it was an- CORY io ae WOR LACE
nually extended through the 7 a

' grades as the original students
progressed. Those students will
enter the secondary school level
in the 1989-1990 school. year,
and there are currently no plans
for a French Immersion pro-
gram that the students will be
able to enter. Parents for French ee -
representative Sue Trombley ex- FS a ET
pressed disappointment with the os mh . RECOGNIZ
board decision, saying she be- | _ oo 7 THE HAZARD

lieves the children in the elemen-
tary program should have the
opportunity to continue learning
two languages and cultures.
There are currently 50 chil-
dren in the program, with an-
other 10 wait-listed to get into it.
Parents for French expressed
fears that if the French Immer-
sion children are channelled into
what the board termed a “‘main-
tenance” French course, they
could encounter a situation in
which the students’ accent and
syntax are equal to or better
than that of their teachers.

District assistant superinten-
dent Skip Bergsma said there is ae ae “¢
—“Jots of French’’ available in ay yg A ——_ —_ "
local secondary schools, and he > hea rt
added that district adyainistra- oe JUNE 19-25 IS CANADIAN OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY WEEK.
tion will be doing further re- = Safety is a matter of awareness. Being June 19-25. : oe
Searcl nest ener nina alert to hazards and dealing with them. Everyone benefits from safety,
year. - Recognize the Hazard, Evaluate its so support programs on better

When one parent indicated Impact, Control its Effect. occupational health at work and in
that it seemed pointless to enrol | This is the message of Canadian your community.
children in French Immersion | Occupational Health and Safety Week, It’s in your interest.

for seven years if they are unable

to continue through secondary

school, trustee Kirsten Chapman

"replied that no guarantees were

extended when the program was
initially conceived.

Another aspect of the pro-

¢  blemis that French Immersion is

heavily subsidized by the federal

government at the primary and

W
‘Sites ae reduced considerably | WORKERS COMPENSATION BOARD @aitinsia

continued on page 23