More French, less schools

Jubilee Elementary in Pointe Claire and Purcell Academy in Pierrefonds/Roxboro will be closing their doors as of next July, Bishop Whelan in Dorval will merge with Meadowbrook in Lachine, and more French will be taught at several schools following a long meeting of the Lester B. Pearson school board’s council of commissioners Monday night "You have to look at the entirety of what has been done here this evening. We've added French programs, we've added magnet programs, we've added opportunities for students in every area," said chairperson Marcus Tabachnick to reporters after the resolutions pertaining to major school change at the board were all approved by its council of commissioners.

Still, many parents and representatives of the schools left the large auditorium at Lindsay Place High School, where the meeting was held, in a huff after hearing Purcell and Jubilee would be closed. "I just wish more people had come into that building, and seen the vitality, and seen how vibrant the community is," said Wendy Clifford, whose daughter, currently in Grade 4 at Jubilee, is one of many students that will have to switch schools and decide between Clearpoint Elementary or St. John Fisher.

Pearson had originally announced its plans for a major school change for 2010-2011 at the beginning of the year, starting off a series of consultations with parents and other concerned groups, and gather over 90 briefs with suggestions on how to make schools more attractive and efficient to communities.

Jubilee, an institution that was born only four years ago from the merger of two other Pointe Claire schools during the last major school change initiative by Pearson, had submitted a brief suggesting it could recreate itself as an arts school. At the meeting Monday night, Allan Levine, commissioner for Ward 3, which includes Jubilee, attempted to defend the proposal. "At the LBPSP, we have the expertise that launched our international program, our K-4 program, and if we get behind an arts program, it will be another LBPSP success," he said.

In the end, however, a thin majority of commissioners remained unconvinced, with 12 voting for the closure and 9 against.

With Jubilee only having student body of 200, it was simply not deemed efficient to continue on, the board's administration reasoned.

In case of Purcell Academy, capacity was not the issue, with the Pierrefonds school in fact being 80 per cent full. However, Tabachnick said it was attracting too many students from three other schools in the area, and this closure would allow those to become viable options for parents again. One of the three, Terry Fox School, will in fact be moving into the building vacated by Purcell Academy. "We sustained a great population, it's very, very unfortunate," said Marie-Josée Auger, chairperson of Purcell's governing board.

As a unique draw, the school offered both French immersion and bilingual options for students. Auger said the closure would simply take that kind of choice away from parents.

The 18 resolutions approved by the board Monday night, Tabachnick explained, were written by the administration and presented to commissioners, based on input received from the community.

Some of them will bolster French instruction in English schools. Students of Grades 3 and 4 will start having access to the early immersion program in schools that offer it, and high schools will boost daily French instruction to 50 per cent gradually in Grades 7 and 8.