The Chilliwack
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Tuesday
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Outdoor education is making waves in Chilliwack.
Community garden looking to grown.
Chilliwack product earns WHL draft.
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Rosedale home destroyed by fire
Firefighters from several Chilliwack halls were on scene at a house fire in the 51000-block of Old Yale Road in Rosedale Sunday night. The call came in around 10 p.m. Sunday, and crews arrived to find the two-storey home fully engulfed in flames. Witnesses said they heard several loud explosions coming from the house before firefighters arrived. The fire was so intense that it consumed the gas meter, producing a small gas leak that required Fortis to disconnect services at the road. The home was completely destroyed. It is not believed anyone was home at the time. Firefighters worked for two hours to control the fire The cause of the fire is under investigation by the RCMP and by fire department officials.
Firefighters responded to a fully engulfed house fire in the 51000-block of Old Yale Road in Rosedale on Sunday night. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Board to vote on early French immersion tonight If approved, the program would add $1 million in additional operating costs Alina Konevski The Progress
The future is bleak for an early French immersion program in Chilliwack. Ahead of a final vote on the option at Tuesday’s public board meeting, superintendent Evelyn Novak has laid out the projected costs. In its first year of implementation, potentially 2014-15, EFI would cost $578,035. This amount would cover the first batch of 20 kinder-
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garten and 22 Grade 1 EFI students for one year. In subsequent years, as this group moves up the EFI education ladder and additional classes join the bottom ranks, the cost would multiply, reaching over $1 million in annual operating costs within five years. The school district already projects a budget deficit of $200,000 for the upcoming year. “This would be an additional budget consideration,” said Novak of the EFI program. “We would
have to go back to our budget and reduce areas that we’re currently doing. We would have some cutting.” The entire federal grant that the district receives for running a French immersion program is allocated to the current Late French Immersion classes, about $140,000 annually. An EFI program would not trigger any additional provincial or federal funding, other than a total of $15,000 for resources. The only hope for additional funding would be from students enrolling in the district who would not have otherwise, which would increase the
district’s per pupil grant. “We heard the parents in wanting to have it implemented. We wanted to make it work. The board believes in programs of choice and offering a variety of programs to students. They believe French immersion is valuable. It’s the other challenges that impact the decision as well,” said Novak. The school board is not considering combining the EFI class grades, and the cost would be the same if fewer than the highest number of students enroll in the program. The Chilliwack chapter of Canadian Parents for French, a
group that advocates for an EFI program, is optimistic that the vote tomorrow night will go in their favour. “I’m excited because it’s the closest thing we’ve seen to actually having an early French immersion program in Chilliwack,” said president Jocelyn Thomas. “I think if every other district can do it, we should be able to as well.” If the board approves the program, Novak has recommended that Cheam Elementary School serve as the site because it has two possible classrooms available. Continued: FRENCH/ p5
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