Dozens of parents received a letter from the Waterloo Region District School Board back in January, stating that bus transportation for students in the French immersion program would be cancelled due to change in boundaries and new schools opening.
"I feel very frustrated. It's just going to cause so much chaos if we lose the transportation," said Naz Ritchie whose daughter is enrolled in the French immersion program at Sheppard Public School in Kitchener.
Chicopee Hills Public School is a new school in Ritchie’s area that initially was going to offer French immersion, but will not offer it now.
She is not alone, as parents with children at Brigadoon Public School face the same problem with some students assigned to the new Groh Public School.
"It's very frustrating because I don't see this French immersion as something that's superfluous to their education, they are doing very well in that program, and there's known benefits to bilingual education," said Amy Dean, whose daughters both go to Brigadoon for French immersion.
Between Brigadoon and Sheppard, parents estimate 170 students are affected.
Now, the WRDSB is taking another look at the issue. It said a total of eight schools were subject to boundary reviews, and it doesn’t know how many French immersion students are affected.
In a statement sent to CTV, the school board said "it is too soon to speculate on the data and possible outcomes."
“If you take the away the bus, then what are we going to do, you know it's very limited options,” said Sean Henderson, the father of two children at Sheppard. If all else fails, $10,000, for before and after program for a year for these children to enjoy French immersion."
Staff were asked to present a report with details and options on April 10.
With reporting from CTV Kitchener's Abigail Bimman
