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CBC
03-04-2025
- Politics
- CBC
OCDSB proposes to scale back elementary school overhaul
Social Sharing After weeks of protest from parents, Ottawa's largest school board is scaling back several elements of a sweeping restructuring of its elementary school system. The revised school boundary proposal released Thursday by the public Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) would require fewer students to switch to a new school in September 2026. Under the new plan, the only schools divided into separate kindergarten to Grade 3 and Grade 4 to Grade 8 configurations would be those that currently exist. Parents and caregivers will also soon be able to request exceptions that could "allow their children to remain at their current school based on specific circumstances," according to a report on the proposal. The revised plan would still see both English and French immersion offered in almost all OCDSB elementary schools, although five will remain English-only and six French-only, said director of education Pino Buffone. The initial plan was to have zero English-only elementary schools, but the grade reconfigurations required to make that happen were going to create "hardships" for families, Buffone said. "There were concerns about the split-up of siblings quite so young. So we've been able to go back to the original proposal [and] adjust some of those school configurations," he said. The OCDSB currently has 30 single-track elementary schools: 15 that are English-only and 15 that are French-only. Some specialized classes retained Middle French immersion would still be phased out starting in September 2026, as would the board's five alternative schools, which would transition to community schools. More than two dozen specialized classes would also be phased out, although the revised proposal retains — for now — the board's primary special needs program and its junior general learning program. The latest boundary proposal also means some schools might now be "a little lower populated than we hoped," Buffone added, with others "a little higher populated." Ever since the initial plans for the OCDSB's largest restructuring in decades came out at the end of February, parents have been expressing their discontent by holding rallies and making their feelings clear at board meetings. The public will be able to weigh in online about the revisions until April 24, with a chance for delegations to provide direct feedback to the board on April 22. The final recommendations are set to go to the board's committee of the whole for approval on May 13.
CBC
12-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Why Ottawa's biggest school board is blowing up boundaries
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board is in the midst of its biggest overhaul since two boards amalgamated back in 1998. It's known for some 15 years that it needed to deal with the mish mash of programs and grade configurations it inherited from those days but never really addressed, and finally launched its review of elementary schools almost a year ago. "Right now – on every front – we're spreading ourselves too thin, trying to do programs that were part of a patchwork," OCDSB education director Pino Buffone explained. "We never really built the quilt that needs to run programs solidly." But since maps of proposed boundaries for 123 schools were released on Feb. 28 showing families how the new quilt is being stitched together, hundreds of parents now say the board is blowing up school communities in ways that don't make sense. Parents are organizing rallies and questioning the method used. A few have even registered children in other boards for September. The board is responding to the pressure and already revisiting some parts of the plan. At a high level, the OCDSB wants almost every school in the district to offer both French immersion and English, and to phase out the alternative and middle immersion programs. For some kids, special help would shift into neighbourhood schools. "Do less, better," as Buffone put it. It does seem counterintuitive that by fall 2026, OCDSB will have about the same number of schools operating at over-capacity as it does now. Another 13 would still be less than 60 per cent full. Some schools would experience big swings from being over-capacity to under-capacity, or vice versa. Some kids would have to switch schools after Grade 3, or walk past their old school and cross major arterial roads to another further away. Schools with kinder-sized toilets would need to be retrofitted to accommodate teenagers. Parents would deal with the logistics of having children in two schools, or would lose their after-care situations. For it to make sense, you have to consider which priority trumped others when planners at the school board sat down to redraw the maps. Fifteen English-only schools Buffone said the board's "shining star" is to offer French immersion in every elementary school, something he said would make the OCDSB unique among boards in Ontario. The other way to look at that goal has been less articulated in recent weeks: The OCDSB would no longer have 15 single-track schools that offer only English with core French. By dual tracking almost every school, the board aims to balance some serious socio-economic inequities it has spent years studying. That is the top driver for this review, Buffone said. The board's data show s its English program teaches a disproportionate number of children from low-income households whose first language isn't English, or who are have special education needs. English-only schools, in particular, are "perpetuating de facto streaming and reinforcing inequities between schools and students," the board's human rights and equity advisor said in a report in January 2024. Schools should offer the same, standard programs, the advisor urged. French immersion, on the other hand, cropped up organically over many years to meet demand and had led to suggestions of a two-tier system within the board. French immersion students are more likely to come from Canadian-born families and have higher family incomes. "That notion of affluence tied to French is more historical than reality right now," Buffone said. "Our newcomers, they want their children learning English and French." There's no denying demand for French immersion is unusually strong in the capital city. Over time, the board's enrolment trends began to tilt. These days, 65 per cent of children in Grade 1 enrol in French immersion, and 30 per cent choose English with core French. Less than 100 choose the alternative program that's likely to be phased out. By Grade 8, however, the student population is enrolled almost equally in French immersion and English. Allowing students to shift between the two programs in a single school will be a benefit, Buffone said. Even in one family, a sibling can flourish in French immersion while another doesn't, he added. Older neighbourhoods most affected Some of the biggest changes are therefore coming to the 15 schools that are currently English-only. Cambridge Public School in Chinatown, for instance, would jump from 28 per cent capacity to three-quarters full. As planners sat down with that overarching goal to offer French immersion everywhere, they knew another key part of the equation: no school would close. Ontario has had a moratorium on school closures since 2017. On March 4, OCDSB general manager Karyn Ostafichuk told trustees just how tough it was to draw lines so schools would offer both French immersion and English but still be "healthy and viable." The trickiest areas, she said, were in Ottawa's older neighbourhoods that have more school spaces than students. That's why the changes are more dramatic in places like Alta Vista and Elmvale Acres, South Keys, Carlingwood, Centretown, along with rural villages like Greely and North Gower. And they are quite dramatic. As one example, Arch Street Public School near the Canterbury recreation complex is currently an English-only school at 44 per cent capacity. It offers junior kindergarten through Grade 8, and almost all of its students come from low income families. Under the new maps, it would gain 144 students by September 2026, and offer only junior kindergarten to Grade 3 but in both French immersion and English. It would be paired with Hawthorne Public School, offering Grades 4 to 8. Meanwhile, the rural North Gower/Marlborough Public School will go from 46 per cent capacity to 108 per cent and offer only junior kindergarten to Grade 3, while its new partner school, Kars on the Rideau, will offer only Grade 4 to Grade 8 and drop from 85 per cent to 44 per cent full. North Gower would grow by 168 students, while Kars on the Rideau would lose 308 students. Some schools feel more full than others at capacity, Ostafichuk explained, and many of those at over-capacity will phase out alternative or middle French immersion students over time. 'Lost a lot of trust in the board' When Natalee Lewis logged on a couple of weeks ago to double-check the boundary changes, she didn't expect any surprises. Her daughter lives a six-minute walk from the colourful red door she enters every morning in the kindergarten yard at Roberta Bondar Public School. There's a play structure outside and a new daycare is being built, attached to the school. "I put my address in and and I thought, 'There must be something wrong,'" Lewis said. Lewis's daughter would be sent to Robert Bateman Public School, across four-lane Conroy Road, while Roberta Bondar Public School would be retrofitted to serve only Grades 7 and 8, instead of junior kindergarten to Grade 8. Since then, Lewis has been swept up by the issue and has become a parent advocate in a way she never expected. She belongs to a Whatsapp group of several hundred parents, is reaching out to her MPP, and is attending consultations and trustee meetings. Everyone agrees with the overarching principles, Lewis said, but the boundary changes made so little sense, one parent asked at a recent consultation if artificial intelligence had been used. "I feel like our children are being treated as numbers," Lewis said. "There's little regard to how families will manage the logistics of their days or how children's mental health is being affected." Rather than blow up all school communities city-wide, Lewis said the board should spend money to add resources and renovate schools like nearby Dunlop Public School, an English-only school in South Keys that's at 34 per cent capacity. Parents would then choose to send their kids there, she said. But in trying to create equity, the board is creating other inequities, she said. Roberta Bondar hosts a well-established breakfast program and has many families on low incomes, she pointed out. They won't own vehicles or have flexible jobs to take their children to schools further away. Meanwhile, Lewis said parent advocates are trying to poke holes in the board's methodology. The OCDSB had closed schools in 2017 based in part on research that showed middle schools were not the most effective configuration. Lewis wants to see the evidence for what the board is doing now. "They consulted on the ideology of the plan, but they didn't consult on the cause and effect of the plan," she said. "And that's where I think we've lost a lot of trust in the board." Call to delay vote Already, the education director has decided to revisit some of the most contentious boundary changes. Buffone told CBC News he has asked planners to take yet another look at the configurations where a junior kindergarten to Grade 3 school would be partnered with a second school offering only Grades 4 to 8. The OCDSB has more consultations and meetings planned — but parents are organizing their own protests. Lewis said, ultimately, parents want trustees to delay approving the plan on April 29 and take more time given the ramifications for so many families. "Let's sit down and talk about what we can do to accomplish what everyone wants," she said. But given it's already registration time, some parents are opting not to send their four-year-olds to one school, only to be transferred to a different OCDSB school for senior kindergarten. A few are switching boards. That could cause different problems for Ottawa's biggest school board. Its enrolment is stagnant, while the three others in Ottawa are seeing their numbers grow. But Buffone said the OCDSB will be on far better footing long-term if it can offer programs parents want in every school, especially French immersion. He said he's open to the feedback that's coming in.
CBC
10-03-2025
- Politics
- CBC
OCDSB reconsidering plan to make students switch schools after Grade 3
Ottawa's English public school board is looking at scaling back a proposal that would have seen more students switch schools after Grade 3 — a key part of its restructuring plan that's now under reconsideration following resistance from parents. The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) said its elementary school review — the board's biggest reorganization in decades — is necessary to improve the quality of education and make the system more inclusive. Under it, about 11,000 students would have switched schools in September 2026, up to 5,000 more than in a normal year. Many parents have expressed displeasure with aspects of the reorganization including changes to school boundaries and the loss of alternative schools. The changes would affect students from kindergarten to Grade 8, The board says it's simplifying the system to keep cohorts intact, but the overhaul would mean drastic changes to 17 schools. Pino Buffone, the board's director of education, told CBC in an interview he's hearing from parents who don't want their kids to change schools that young, or be separated from their siblings. "That's part of what I'm asking the planners to go back and look at," said Buffone. "This increase in split grade configurations — sort of the primary grades, and then the junior — can we relook at that to ease the pressure on some of our families, to keep their kids together?" That could result in more schools that end at grades 6 or 8, instead of grades 4 or 5, he said. Board trustees are expected to decide next month on changes stemming from the review.
CBC
26-02-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Parents aim to rally for OCDSB's alternative schools
Parents of children in OCDSB alternative schools fight to save the program 3 hours ago Duration 2:14 Social Sharing Parents of children who attend alternative schools are putting their heads together to try to save the program. As part of a proposed restructuring, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board's trustees could soon vote to eliminate all five of its alternative schools. Many parents say the schools focus on individual learning needs in ways regular community schools do not. At an OCDSB Alternative Schools Advisory Committee meeting Monday night, community members and parents shared their thoughts on the plan in an online forum. Emily Addison, a parent and co-chair of the committee, was among parents who voiced frustration over the process. Parents voice concerns about OCDSB's plan to integrate specialized programs She said parents believe OCDSB administrators had already decided that alternative schools would be cut before hosting consultations, based on a radio interview the board's director of education, Pino Buffone, gave to CBC on Monday morning. "What, therefore, is the point of having community consultations if there's not opportunities for a plan to be altered or changed?" she asked. Disagreement over value On Monday, Buffone told CBC's Ottawa Morning that the alternative school program was being cut because it hasn't been "adding value enough." "Our students in the alternative program, on balance, each and every year perform under the district average," he said. Students in alternative schools did perform under the district average on the provincial assessment test (EQAO) in Grade 3 and Grade 6, and on report cards in the last three years, according to an OCDSB report released last fall. The report shows students in regular English programs also performed below average. Between the regular and alternative programs, alternative students outperformed regular students by between two and eight per cent, in every EQAO subject except Jr-Math. The elementary and middle school French immersion programs performed above district average on the EQAO and report cards in the same time frames. In the radio interview, Buffone also cited "chronic absenteeism" among alternative students. The OCDSB defines absenteeism as a student missing 10 per cent or more of class days. The report shows that rates of chronic absenteeism were "higher" in both alternative and regular programs, and "lower" in French immersion programs. Despite this, Buffone said the board determined alternative programs weren't adding enough value to justify expenses like transporting kids from their home neighbourhoods. "We're not seeing the return on achievement and well-being that I think is aspired to," he said, adding that the savings could be returned to classrooms. He said they expect $1 million per year in transportation savings — the equivalent of 20 support staff. Sarah Boardman, a parent of a child at an alternative school, emailed CBC and the school board about several of Buffone's statements. She felt the board's director misrepresented the impact alternative school programs have had on kids — complaints echoed by parents in the meeting. Boardman feared any savings might only be temporary, should the Ministry of Education reduce future funding for the school board if it doesn't utilize all of the funding it receives for transportation. The Ministry's funding framework allocates funding based on expenditures reported by school boards. Getting voices out One student of an alternative school, Miles White, joined his mother, Jenn Wallner, at the meeting Monday to voice his disappointment at the prospect of losing his school. He said in the public school system "you're basically just forced to stay still and listen. While alternative schools give you a much wider variety of choices, and teachers have a much different way of teaching." Webb thanked him for sharing. "How do we get Miles's voice out, and others' [voices]?" Webb asked. Some parents said they have been writing letters, posting to social media, and collecting videos of the students sharing their stories. Laura MacKenzie suggested parents show up to a meeting on Wednesday, when the OCDSB board will be hearing from delegations. "I'm bringing my kid, I'm bringing my partner," she said. "A lot of us need to be there. ... We need to tell our stories about why it's important to us." Amy Hannah, the superintendent of education for OCDSB, told the advisory committee that the board of trustees will hear from delegations again on March 19 and that a decision is expected by the end of April.
