District 1 superintendent says French-language elementary schools are outdated, overcrowded

A6

BY ALAN COCHRANE
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

6 Comment(s)

A delegation of concerned parents and officials from School District 1 plan to meet with Education Minister Roland Haché this week to make their case for a new French-language elementary school for Moncton's north end.

1 of 2

GREG AGNEW/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT

L’École Saint-Henri in Moncton is so crowded that they have one room holding two Grade 2 classes with two teachers. There are 35 students in one room, where teachers Nadia Langille and Sylvie LeBlanc work with them.

GREG AGNEW/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT

Gino LeBlanc, associate researcher at the Canadian Institute of Politics and Public Administration, and Etienne Paulin, spokesman for the parents of l’École Saint-Henri, talk about the need for another French school in Moncton at a news conference yesterday.

"We've been working at this for over two years and we're hoping for an announcement for a new school in the next budget. It's our top priority," District 1 superintendent Anne-Marie LeBlanc said yesterday. District officials and parents held a news conference at l'École Saint-Henri to launch a letter-writing campaign, saying that more than 800 parents have already signed a petition in favour of a new school.

District 1 administers 15 French-language schools in six New Brunswick communities including Moncton, Dieppe, Fredericton and Saint John which serve more than 7,000 students. School District 2 administers 38 English-language schools in southeast New Brunswick, serving about 16,000 students.

Education Minister Roland Haché was not available for comment yesterday, but a spokeswoman in his office said he is aware that a new north end school is the top priority for District 1.

Moncton Crescent MLA John Betts said yesterday he has met with Haché to discuss a new French-language school for the area but received no promises.

"It's the No. 1 priority for my riding," Betts said. "Moncton Crescent is the fastest growing area in Moncton. We need to accommodate this growth and offer equal education opportunities for those who choose to move to the area, regardless of what official language they wish to be educated in."

Earlier this year, the education department approved the construction of a new English-language school for the north end, and a new school for Rexton. At the same time, parents and politicians in Riverview are pushing for a new English-language school for East Riverview to replace the 56-year-old Gunningsville Elementary School.

During a visit to the Gunningsville School on Sept. 30, Haché said in an interview with the Times & Transcript that "there is clearly a need for new schools in New Brunswick because the average age of our schools is 40 years." He said there is mounting pressure to build new schools around the province but it would take half a billion dollars to solve the problem. He said the province will have to prioritize the demands, considering that a new school costs about $20 million depending on size and design.

LeBlanc said l'École Saint-Henri, first constructed in 1965, is overcrowded and lacking in space and facilities for the more than 400 students. She said District 1 has three elementary schools in Moncton -- St. Bernadette, Champlain and Saint-Henri -- and all are overcrowded beyond their capacity. She sees it as a symptom of Metro Moncton's growth in recent years as more people are moving from New Brunswick's north and rural communities into the urban centres of Moncton and Saint John. At the same time, the district's two new schools -- Le Mascaret and l'Odysée -- have only been in service a few years but are already overcrowded.

The result is long days for the children, some of whom are getting on the bus at 6:30 a.m. and spending more than an hour to get to school in the morning and the same amount of time getting home after school. LeBlanc said the situation is frustrating for school administrators, teachers, students and the parents, to the point where only 72 per cent of the students who are eligible to attend French-language schools in Moncton's north end actually do -- the remainder of parents have decided to send their children to English-language schools.

Etienne Paulin, a spokesman for the parents of children at Saint-Henri, said they want a commitment from the province to build a new school for the north end. He said the school has about 480 students, many of whom travel by bus every day, the library is too small, there aren't enough toilets or classrooms, and there's not enough space on the property to put more portables. The space restrictions are so tight that two Grade 2 classes were actually combined into the biggest classroom.

"Our main goal is to expose the problem of overpopulation in our elementary school and say the only way to settle this problem is to build a new school in the north end of Moncton where a new school is needed," Paulin said yesterday.

He is hoping the letter campaign and petition will help force the government's hand to build a new school. He said lack of action by the province is hurting French culture in Moncton.