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BC School Board Elections 2011 |
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On Saturday, November 19, 2011, every community in the province will have School Board elections. This is a crucial opportunity for parents to ensure quality and accessible French Second Language programming in their communities over the next three years.
Canadian Parents for French BC & Yukon Branch is launching a parent-lead campaign - Parents Are Voters - to help educate and engage French second language supporters in school districts throughout BC in advance of the upcoming school trustee elections.
We encourage parents to attend their school district’s Trustee All Candidates Forum(s), engage with and ask questions of the candidates and summarize their responses to distribute to local chapter members and to the CPF BC & Yukon branch prior to Election Day. CPF parent-led chapters can take initiative and work with their DPAC and PAC to host an All Candidates Forum if one is not yet scheduled in their community. After receiving the summaries of candidates’ responses to parents’ questions, CPF will collate the results and use this information to help educate the French second language community. We will also encourage local parent participation in this school trustee election on November 19th through forums – both online and offline. Here are some suggested questions we will be distributing to chapter members to pose to their district’s candidates. Each district has different French second language concerns and parents are free to tailor the questions to their communities’ needs.
1. What is your vision for French Second language programming in this district in the future?
2. Interest in French Immersion is higher in B.C. than in any other province, and has increased steadily over the past ten years. Will you accommodate heightened demand in our district? If so, how?
3. While overall enrolment in schools declines, enrolment in French immersion continues to increase. What is your perspective on the balance between English and French programmes in our district?
4. What do you see as the main problems facing immersion and other FSL programmes in your district? How do you propose to address these?
5. How would you involve parents as stakeholders in discussions around expanding and improving the quality of FSL programming?
6. Our school board receives additional Federal funding for every student enrolled in French second language programs - it’s part of what’s called the Official Languages Educational Protocol (OLEP) agreement. What will you do as a trustee to help ensure the parent community understands how these targeted French funds are being used?
Other ways that parents and supporters can get involved in the School Trustee Elections: - Talk to local media about FSL issues and invite them to attend the All-Candidates Forum. Edit the attached media release template and send it to your local media!
- Reach out to local School Trustee candidates in another way by writing an email or giving them a phone call. They may also send them a message through their official election Facebook page or Twitter account if they have one.
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