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SD91 French Programming

SD91 passes two motions related to french immersion programming report

May 12, 2020 | 11:01 AM

VANDERHOOF–Recommendations from a review and report of School District 91’s (Nechako Lakes) French programming have been made and community feedback obtained, and have led to the passing of two motions at yesterday’s Board meeting.

Firstly, the Board accepted the recommendation of discontinuing the grade 7/8 French Immersion program at the Nechako Valley Secondary School (NVSS). The program didn’t operate this year due to the inability to hire a qualified French Immersion teacher. NVSS has moved to offering enhanced language opportunities for their middle year learners.

The second motion passed, was to table a final decision on the recommendation for the William Konkin Elementary program until a time when B.C. education has returned to normal operations after the health pandemic.

The Board says that they recognize the context and difficulty of transitioning any programming changes amidst managing operation of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, and thank the public for their feedback and submissions.

The motion to conduct a comprehensive review of French Immersion Programming in SD91 was passed in the fall of 2019. Mrs. Anne Cooper, from AZ Cooper Consulting was contracted to conduct the review and the report with recommendations.

The Phase 1 report was received by the Board of Education earlier this year, and the final report in April 2020 in which the Board of Education passed a motion to enlist further feedback from parents, students and the community before their decision at a Special Board meeting on May 11.