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To The Editor :

It is with grave concern and utter disbelief that I read the Oct. 21 editorial of your newspaper. Let's get directly to the point.

In a very subtle way, it is suggested that the francophone community (School District 1), which is in dire need of a new school in the north end of the city because of critical overcrowding issues, should settle for space left over in an another inner school (School District 2) or again in a school recently closed in this same district. If the empty spaces in these English schools are available, should the District 2 plans for a new school in the north end be cancelled and therefore rezoning of routes be done to send students to these available spaces?

To have such an editorial published just days after a press release from a group of parents asking for a French school to better accommodate students in an area served by three English schools is either due to a complete ignorance of the facts or again by an attempt to treat the francophone community in this city as second class citizens. I shudder to believe this second position and so I will concentrate in supplying you with the facts to rectify this situation, if in fact it is by lack of knowledge on the subject.

First of all, School District 1's geographical territory shares the same territory with seven anglophone districts in very vibrant communities in southern New Brunswick (Fredericton, Oromocto, Saint John, Moncton, Dieppe and Memramcook). It is the only school district in the province that has experienced continual growth since 2002. In fact, we are welcoming 152 new students this year in the 15 schools serving our population of 7,722 students.

The French elementary schools in the City of Moncton have experienced this growth in a very important way.

L'école Saint-Henri being one of the most overcrowded schools in our district has seen its school population grow by 13 per cent in the last three years alone! Please let me inform you of the many magical tricks the school and district administrative staff has had to pull to maintain a good school environment in these conditions. Of the 10 portable classrooms we have added to the Moncton elementary French schools, only two have been placed at Saint-Henri school because of lack of space on the school grounds. In fact, to add one more portable classroom would be to make the school playground practically non-existent.

While awaiting the announcement of a new school, we have had to combine two groups of students with two teachers in a single classroom. As an example, this year the Grade 2 class shares one classroom space for 35 students. We are certainly grateful to the teachers who willingly accept this pedagogical challenge but just how far can we go?

With a library much smaller than the norms and very difficult cafeteria schedules, we believe that District 1's priority in claiming a school in Moncton's booming north end is not only justified, but critical.

Moreover, a recent study has shown that more than 25 per cent of parents who have a right to French schools in that specific area send their children to the English schools that are present in that zone.

Is it not a blatant statement that the French populations who chose to live in our urban areas are much more threatened by assimilation? Should we not do everything in our power to halt this menace and thus continue to grow by respecting both linguistic communities?

In recent years, the City of Moncton has done a lot to respect the English and French duality. I am convinced that these initiatives have contributed immensely to the City's economic, cultural and social standings. Our daily English newspaper should adopt this attitude to continue to boost Moncton's great living environment.

Ernest Thibodeau,

Président

Conseil d'éducation

District scolaire 1

Dieppe