Elk Island Public Schools (EIPS) has delayed its decision on how to proceed with the future of Ardrossan Junior/Senior High's French immersion program.
The school division initially intended to make a recommendation to the board this month but decided to delay the decision to the Fall after families voiced their concerns.
"We had one option to put forward [initially]," said Sandra Stoddard, the associate superintendent at EIPS. "When we looked at the feedback and criteria, two other options emerged that are completely viable."
"We wanted to be able to give parents times to provide feedback [on the new proposals]."
The initial plan presented to families would have seen all the French immersion programming at Ardrossan Junior/Senior High be moved to Bev Facey in Sherwood Park in time for the 2026/2027 school year.
That plan was met with pushback as parents raised concerns over extended bus times and the potential detriment of mixing junior high students into a senior high environment.
One of the new proposals tries to remedy one of those problems.
"Option three contemplates relocating all of EIPS' junior high French immersion students to the new potential replacement school that we have for Sherwood Heights, and it would become a K-to-9 French immersion school with K-to-6 being a single [English] tract and then the 7-to-9 being a dual track," said Stoddard.
"The senior high students would be relocated to Bev Facey."
Chantel Butt, whose son is currently in grade 3 and will be affected by these changes, is happy to see more effort from the division but thinks more work is needed.
"When I have chatted with some of the parents over the past few days many are thinking about moving their child into the English track at Ardrossan Junior High as opposed to having them going to Sherwood Park," said Butt.
The whole reason for the potential moving of Ardrossan's French immersion is because of anticipated enrolment pressures. However, if enough parents do decide to move their kids into the Ardrossan English track, it could pose the same problem for the division.
"By the time the transition happens, and all the details are planned and communicated, the majority typically end up following the recommended pattern," said Stoddard. "If that is something that people choose to do, we do have an ability to accommodate those kids that may decide to stay that live in the Ardrossan area and are designated to the Ardrossan school."
The third potential solution that was presented to parents was to turn Bev Facey into a dual-track 7-to-12 school and make it the designated secondary school for students in Ardrossan Elementary, E'cole Campbelltown, Ecole Parc Elementaire and Heritage Hills Elementary's French Immersion program.
While more attractive options than the initial proposal, the issue of transportation is still at the heart of the matter.
"I'm glad that they looked at a potential solution where the junior high can still be together and maybe not be put into senior high just yet," said Butt. "I live in rural Strathcona County and for me, it's still specifically a longer bus route and if that solution goes ahead, I'm still choosing to put my son in the English track."
Uncertainty around transportation has been a sticking point, but it is something that the EIPS plans on addressing once they are further along in the process.
"Once a recommendation is made to the board around one option, we will work with transportation and start to explore in more detail what that would look like," said Stoddard.
"Because it is at least three years down the road we haven't explored it to the level of detail that parents probably would want it to have."
For now, parents are encouraged to fill out a survey to provide feedback on the three solutions being presented.
Once the results from that survey are collected, EIPS will hand them off to an unbiased third party who will make a recommendation.