At the January 20th Business Operations Committee meeting, held here in Orangeville at ODSS, trustees were presented with a report of the "Co-Chairs of the Immersion French Review Committee for Erin, Orangeville and Dufferin County". This is a committee, comprised of parents, trustees, principals and senior administration, that has met since last June to:

• "review interest in French Immersion in Erin, Orangeville and Dufferin, and

• investigate the feasibility of altering the existing French Immersion (F.I.) programs and/or setting up new programs."

For the past several years, students from Orangeville/Dufferin who wanted to take F.I. in the public board were bussed to Brisbane or Erin P.S's, a trip that would be up to an hour and a half for some students. While about 125 local students participated in the program, there was a strong feeling in the community that a local (Orangeville) program would attract many more families to allow for a sustainable program. Through the dedicated efforts of a number of parents (Sonia McDonald, Lori McNeill-Chong, and Rhonda Nalli), they beat the bushes and produced a list of 276 families (over 480 students) willing to commit to support a local program.

So the committee presented the trustees with a report that contained the following recommendations:

• The Board approve the implementation of a JK to Grade 6 F.I. program in Orangeville to begin in September 2009 and that the program is expanded to include Gr. 7 in 2010 and Gr. 8 in 2011.

• The committee continue to meet to examine the issue of support for a viable secondary school F.I. program.

Staff were also directed to bring back a recommended location, in one of the town schools, and that the program be assured of proper and sufficient resources at startup.

Trustees listened to several delegations articulating both unqualified support for a program in Orangeville or serious concerns about the impact on the very successful Brisbane program.

In the end, though, the trustees voted to recommend to Board that the program go ahead as recommended. The final vote will occur on January 27th at the regular Board meeting at our Guelph office. At that meeting we will hear from 11 delegations (that's a record for me!) speaking for and against the recommendations. Stay tuned for the final outcome.

Contact Information: Should you wish to contact Bob Borden, UGDSB Trustee for the Town of Orangeville and Chair of the Board, you can do so by phone (home office- 519-940-0279; Guelph office- 519- 822-4420, ext. 735) or e-mail at bob.borden@ ugdsb.on.ca. Also, you can visit the Board's web site at www.ugdsb.on.ca and read the highlights of each Board meeting.