Deachman: 'A tragic misstep' — closing OCDSB alternative schools helps no one
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Even if those savings helped the board reduce its spending, though, how would the savings from shuttering the alternative program compare to the long-term costs of failing students, or the overall enrolment loss as parents potentially move their children to other boards? Both the French Catholic and French public boards, says Addison, have alternative programming. Such small savings hardly justify abandoning an education stream that works for so many.
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As things stand, the five schools that offer Alternative programs extend only as far west as Lincoln Heights (Regina Street Alternative School) and as far east as Alta Vista (Riverview). Families in suburban areas such as Kanata, Barrhaven and Orléans don't have convenient access to the program. Addison says she'd like to see a pilot program offer alternative education in those areas. She points to Trillium Elementary School in Orléans as an example of where it could be adopted. The school, she says, is projected to operate at just 62 per cent capacity post-reorganization, and so could be used to test a 'school-within-a-school' model.
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The board, meanwhile, needs to do a better job marketing the alternative program to boost enrolment. One parent at an April 22 town hall meeting with trustees said he only learned of it by word-of-mouth from other parents. Rosalind Paciga, who also spoke at the meeting, said that many parents only discover the program when their child is in crisis, when the inadequacies of the mainstream program are exposed.
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'Now that the review has finally sparked awareness and brought attention to the program are we hearing how parents wish they knew about the program sooner,' she said. 'Parents want this program. Students need this program. The community supports this program. The answer is not elimination, it's revitalization.'
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The board has been running deficits for years and can no longer do so. In looking for solutions, it faces opposition on just about every front.
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Board staff's final recommendations on the elementary program review are expected to be made public on Thursday or Friday, and officially presented to the board for discussion on May 6. A final decision is expected on May 13.
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