A minor drama reaches happy conclusion

BY RAFFY BOUDJIKANIAN

raffy.boudjikanian@transcontinental.ca

A minor drama at Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School has ended in satisfaction for some concerned parents as a beloved music teacher who may have had to leave the school next year due to a lack of student enrolment in the music program will end up staying instead.

"A mistake was made on the allocation of resources," Lester B. Pearson Teacher's Union president Serge Laurendeau told The Chronicle last Friday. "The board can't declare the teacher in excess," he explained.

One out of the two permanent music teachers at the school had been declared in excess due to what PCHS principal Cecil Humphries had called a lack of student enrolment in the music program next year.

Some parents had come out strongly in support of keeping the teacher in question, with a group of about 20 waiting outside a meeting room of the parent participation organization at the school last Wednesday night.

"Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School for me was the international baccalaureate and music," explained Anna Richardson, whose son plays the trumpet in a jazz sub-program kick-started by the teacher five years ago when she joined the school.

Several parents seemed to think the teacher in question is the lifeblood of the program. "The students were invited to collaborate with the jazz band at McGill," said Jill Laverdiere, who has a child in the program as well. "They couldn't believe their ears when they heard our kids play," she added.

According to the Lester B. Pearson Teachers' Union, declaring teachers in excess is standard procedure for this time of year at the Lester B. Pearson school board across all programs. "Every year, in March, based on student registration, and then again on April 30, the school board must declare excess teachers," Laurendeau explained. "This is a normal procedure around the province."

This year, the teacher in question was only one of about 50 across the school board in all programs that were declared in excess based on student enrolment numbers.

Parents impressed with the work of the teacher said their children would likely have lost out on their musical education.

Laura Bracken vouched on behalf of the music educator even though her own son is graduating this year after five years of involvement with the music program. "(The teacher) took them from not knowing anything," she said, highlighting how the children performed at different schools and even for the highly publicized Missing Children's' Network annual fundraiser at Fairview Pointe Claire shopping centre last year.

Representing the Parent Participation Organization, Lynn Brouillette said this was a case where the governing board of PCHS, the teachers' union and concerned parents were all able to work together. "(The administration) listened to the parents and they found a way to change what is happening," Brouillette said. "I think the parents will be very happy about it."