Parents fight for choice in alternative program review
Posted Nov 27, 2009 By Rosalyn Stevens
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EMC News For the parents of students in Ottawa's elementary alternative education program, it's about choice. 
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Students at Churchill Public School gathered recently to attract public attention to the ongoing review of their school system. The OCDSB is currently conducting a review of the elementary alternative program, which many parents fear signals a closure of the specialized school environment.
The choice of where to locate their children, and how those children will receive their education is the perceived target of an ongoing program review by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB).
"There are a multitude of reasons why parents choose the alternative program," explained program review committee spokeswoman Sheri Zelle, "and one isn't stronger than another."
But it's that element of choice itself, she said, that has parents concerned about the school board's current review of the program.
In June, the Ottawa's public board approved the commencement of a program review, with the purpose of establishing whether the alternative program was much different from the board's standard programming, and to determine whether regularly planned improvements to standard programming would differ from an improved alternative program.
Worrisome to parents of children attending alternative schools is the stated purpose, "to determine whether or not the OCDSB will continue to offer the alternative program in grades JK-8..."
"People are very emotional about things, especially when it comes to their children," Ms. Zelle said.
A collective group of alternative program parents from across the city there are six such schools in Ottawa has gathered to fight any proposed closures that could stem from this review. As part of its advocacy, the group has gathered video statements posted online, spread awareness posters through communities, and covered light posts near alternative schools with pledges to fight for their children's school.
Ms. Zelle said the adversarial reaction from parents is based on the perception that the board is conducting this review with an intended outcome predetermined closure of the programs.
"They've sort of put up the placeholders to make it seem like an open process," she said, "but right out of the gate you got the sense that something else was going on."
Lynn Scott, chair of the OCDSB, said program reviews are a regular occurrence, adding that there seems to be a misunderstanding of the process.
"I think that there's a certain amount of concern that the purpose of the review is not just to review, but that it could be the end of elementary alternative," she noted.
But it's not so cut and dry, Ms. Scott added. The review is sticking to guidelines set in the early summer and, with information gathered through surveys and a literature review, will assess the various facets of alternative education. Depending on the results, which will be compiled into a report due out next month, recommendations by board staff could vary.
"I would say yes, there is a possibility of expanding it," Ms. Scott said, adding that no decision will be made until all information is gathered.
Richard Deadman, co-chair of the alternative school advisory committee (ASAC), said he is concerned with the process of a review that, until recently, the community was looking forward to.
A few years ago, he said, ASAC completed its own review, looking at ways to optimize the program.
Several recommendations came out as a result of that review, but Mr. Deadman said the board chose not to act on them until their own review was completed.
"The board came out with a review that seems to be geared at 'Do we need to close the program?'" he said.
Mr. Deadman said there are many concerns regarding the process, including the role of the steering committee on which he sits.
"It doesn't steer," he stated. "It doesn't set direction. At most, you could say it has an advisory capacity."
The methods of information gathering aren't enough for a review of this sort, he said, adding that despite many invitations, school visits and input from current students have not been included in the process. The survey on which much of the data is based was a nine-day online tool, though feedback could also be submitted through e-mail, he explained.
Despite the perceived flaws in the process, Mr. Deadman said the results so far have been positive. Feedback collection closed on Nov. 15.
"The literature review says we're doing best practices," he said. "The survey says we're doing something substantially different."
The basis of alternative education is entirely different from standard English and French streams, Ms. Zelle explained. Parents are required to participate in the school community, either through after hours volunteering, or time spent directly in the classroom. The atmosphere of an alternative classroom gives the impression of choice students choose where they sit, whether that be around a desk or on the carpet, and assigned seating is not common.
Teachers don't stand at the front of the class and lecture, in fact, it's hard to pinpoint where exactly the front of the class is in many cases.
Students are as much a participant in the classroom as their teacher, and often lead their own learning process with assistance only as needed. The focus is not on grades, or competition, but communal learning, Ms. Zelle noted. And the students are learning the same curriculum as their counterparts in standard stream schools.
"I don't want my daughter as a passive passenger on her educational journey," Ms. Zelle said. "I want her as an active participant."
Joey Gunn sits on the school council for Lady Evelyn Alternative School and said he believes the alternative program is important for addressing students with differing learning needs.
He said parents have come to know the schools typically through one of three ways by living nearby, talking to other parents, or through research into another option for their children who were not succeeding in the standard stream programs.
"What's not being taken into account, and what should be taken into account is ... traditional desk and classroom settings don't work for all children," Mr. Gunn explained.
He said he transferred his daughter into the alternative program when she was having difficulty, and saw an instant change.
"She went from struggling, to feeling like she was not being understood, to... being a straight A student, to participating," Mr. Gunn said. "I credit the staff, I credit the environment (and) I credit the program."
In reference to the current review, Mr. Gunn said he hopes trustees will see the evidence of the importance of the program, and accept that change can be a good thing.
"I think the message trustees need to understand is it's 2009, and things are different," he stated.
Many parents said they would move their children from the OCDSB into private or Montessori schooling, to continue providing alternative environments for learning should be program be cancelled. Ms. Zelle noted, however, many parents have already done the reverse, bringing children from outside of the board into the alternative program. If the school board could continue that trend, with a little promotion of the program, the results would benefit the financial health of the board and, as a result, the educational environment for all students.
"It does affect all parents," she said, noting that for each student in an OCDSB school, the board receives a per-pupil subsidy. "It's not just for the parents who chose the program, (but also) those who might need to choose the program, and those who don't even know it exists."
The next step in the process is the accumulation of all information into a report, which should be released next month. Accompanying the report, Ms. Scott said staff would likely include recommendations for the future of the program. If the recommendations opted to close the alternative programs, she said additional processes would be required. However, Ms. Scott stressed that the practices currently used in alternative schools would not disappear.
"The schools for the most part would still exist," she said. "The practices would still exist. But they wouldn't get a special label. That is one option."
For more information about the alternative program review, please see the OCDSB's website at www.ocdsb.ca.
