French immersion changes in N.B. town frustrate mayor, families
CTV
The mayor of Grand Bay-Westfield, N.B., says local changes to French immersion this fall will hurt students and the community.
The mayor of Grand Bay-Westfield, N.B., says local changes to French immersion this fall will hurt students and the community.
Late French immersion students who attend River Valley Middle School in Grand Bay-Westfield will move this September to Barnhill Memorial School in Saint John, roughly a 25-minute drive southeast.
All early French Immersion classes in the area will also move to Westfield School, beginning with Grade 1. French immersion at Grand Bay Primary and Inglewood schools will phase out.
“Any kind of change like that with educational programming in a community is a big deal,” said Brittany Merrifield, mayor of Grand Bay-Westfield, in an interview.
“Anything that reduces the possibility of students joining into that kind of educational programming, which this decision will do, is very concerning to us.”
She says changes could affect the growth of Grand Bay-Westfield.
“People are going to say, ‘I may not want to move there because they don’t have French immersion programming within their community.’”
