spark*activation Concerns Regarding the OCDSB Elementary Program Review

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To: [representative], 

My name is [NAME], and I am writing to express my deep concern about the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board’s (OCDSB) Elementary Program Review (EPR). The proposed changes by the OCDSB appear ill-conceived, the review process itself is flawed, and implementing these changes would cause significant harm to students and families. This proposal is community breaking, not community building.

Emotional & Community Impacts: Changing schools is deeply unsettling for young children, negatively affecting their emotional well-being and social development. Losing established friendships and familiar routines may increase anxiety and hinder academic progress.  Not only will these changes have lasting individual impacts, but they will devastate our communities. Participation in the existing school community has helped build strong support networks for students and families. Forcing MORE families to switch schools or split their engagement between multiple school communities needlessly disrupts these vital connections, ultimately diminishing parental involvement and weakening the broader school community.

Logistical & Quality-of-Life Challenges: The proposed realignment of schools will result in longer commutes, complicate family routines, and limit students' participation in extracurricular activities. These changes will disproportionately affect women, with no gender analysis put forward to understand the impact on women's participation in Ottawa’s workforce.

Dismantling Alternative Schools & Specialized Programs: This proposal would eliminate Alternative programs, which have provided successful educational pathways for students who struggle in conventional learning environments. It would also discontinue 39 specialized program classes, forcing vulnerable students into regular classrooms without appropriate supports, increasing educator burden and creating poorer learning outcomes for all students. This would exponentially exacerbate an already fragile system that is challenged to support existing students’ diverse learning needs. These specialized programs are essential for children with specific educational needs, and dismantling them would severely harm both their educational progress and emotional well-being.

Weakened French Immersion: This proposal aims to offer French Immersion (FI) across the City of Ottawa; which in theory sounds great. But because the OCDSB does not have enough teachers or financial resources in order to actually do that in a meaningful way - at the level of quality and immersion that high-water mark schools offer right now - they are proposing FI that is significantly watered down relative to current programming. This will mean a drastic drop in terms of how much French instruction is given during the day. Not real or ideal immersion. From 80% to 60% in grade 1 and then a precipitous decline onwards from there.

Haphazard Plan with Incomplete Costing or Implementation: The OCDSB has not been transparent with families about the data on which it is relying for the proposed boundary changes, how many students they can claim would benefit from this change, or exactly how they would transition children from special education into regular classes. There is no plan for busing, classroom retrofits or teaching staff. There is no plan for additional childcare spaces. It’s unclear whether the plan will save money or cost more. There is no assessment of what taxpayer funds will be wasted due to previous retrofits no longer being relevant due to the changes.

Flawed Consultation Process: With little to no details released, the OCDSB expects parents and trustees to thoughtfully respond to the proposal under a rushed timeline - only two months - having only received details the last day of February for a vote in April. Additionally, they have not detailed how they will aggregate or incorporate feedback, nor a path forward for potential amendments to either the program review or boundary changes. Parents can only conclude the process was deliberately designed as nothing more than fake community “consultation”, with no intention for genuine engagement.

Public opposition to this proposal is substantial and growing. Thousands have signed a petition (at: https://www.change.org/p/urge-ocdsb-trustees-to-reject-the-proposed-elementary-program-model). Many parents are actively voicing their concerns using the OCDSB survey (engage.ocdsb.ca), through grassroots advocacy groups like concerned-parents-of-ottawa.ca, at community meetings, on social media, and at schoolyards across the city. It is clear the OCDSB has broken any trust that parents, taxpayers, and voters have. .

I am calling on the OCDSB to pause this rushed approval process, extend the consultation process to carefully reconsider the impacts on children and families, present a full & transparent costing as well as resource reinvestment plan, and allow for real adjustments to be made before the vote.

One obvious solution not sufficiently considered by OCDSB is a more reasonable transition plan, including grandparenting families and students already established in schools, allowing siblings to attend the same school and maintaining community stability.

This EPR can be fixed, but given the rushed timeline and lack of details - this proposal must be rejected in its current form.

Director Buffone told Trustees they need to vote now, and figure out the details later. This is a reckless and insulting proposition when our children’s future is at stake.

I would appreciate knowing your position on this critical matter and encourage you to stand with me and thousands of concerned citizens in opposition to this proposal. I welcome the opportunity to discuss these concerns further and hope we can collaborate, along with other stakeholders, to find solutions that truly benefit our children’s education, families' well-being, and community bonds.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely,