A lot wrong with SD79 proposed school closure
Vancouver Island News Group - Cowichan News Leader And Pictorial
March 15, 2008
Opinion -- C. Gillis

Dear editor,

Our family and our school's educational vision has been completely shattered by the proposed closure of Ecole Mill Bay Elementary. …Our trustees and School District 79 staff should instead be considering our many options to make this successful program work and be trying to increase numbers at EMB. Many immersion schools offer a late-entry start for students in Grade 5. Another option is to start full-day kindergarten, like most of the private schools in this area. Find out if the daycare numbers can be used in the head-count within the building. The district needs to look at its own spending habits, and curb what is not necessary (think retreats, numbers of positions at the board level).

Two excellent daycare facilities will also be affected by the proposed closure. The Ministry of Children and Families wants more childcare facilities, while Boudreault states "the Ministry of Education is not in the childcare business, it is in the education of students." These children attending these daycare programs are your students! They are in need of daycare. Working parents are in need of these daycares.