By Sean Condon
Lara Deutsch is a Grade 3 pupil enrolled in McNabb Park public school’s gifted program.
The program, the only one of its kind offered by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, personalizies the curriculum for students around their special interests and prepares them for a higher level of education.
However, the Congregated Gifted Program is threatened by the possible closure of the school, a threat that has parents worried.
Jane’s mother, Annie Deutsch, says parents are concerned as to where their children may end up if the school is closed and whether the program will even continue.
“Right now, parents are devastated,” says Deutsch. “Nobody has any idea of what’s going on, or on what’s going to happen and that’s causing a lot of worrying.”
The Grade 1 to 4 program was established in 1983 and draws students from as far as Nepean. Currrently, about 70 pupils are enrolled in the program.
When the staff at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board proposed the closure of 10 Ottawa-Carleton region schools, it did not make recommendations about the future of specialty education programs.
The school board staff is examining the issue as part of a program and boundary review and plans to announce its recommendations in Janu-ary or February.
“Programs are a very difficult case,” says Rose-Marie Batley, superintendent of facilities and physical planning for the OCDSB. “It involves so many people and issues that must be thought out very carefully.”
She says the staff is looking at the best possible solutions to ensure that students do not have to be relocated more than once and that school closures do not mean program extinction.
“Programs aren’t particular to the school; you can relocate them,” says Batley.
Glenn Bousted, McNabb Park school council treasurer and a member of the Centretown Community Working Group also has a daughter in the Grade 3 gifted program. He says he is concerned whether the special programs were considered during the decision-making process.
“It made decisions about schools before they made public what it was going to do about the programs,” says Bousted. “Now, we don’t even know if it’s going to be around next year.”
Deutsch says the school council had been making plans to add on Grade 5 and 6 to its current program, so students would not have to transfer.
McNabb Park also offers programs for learning disabled students and for children who have difficulties coping in classrooms.
The school also provides space to community associations like alcoholics and overeaters anonymous.
Whatever happens to McNabb, Deutsch wants to make sure the program continues.
“When programs get under review we’ll be working hard to keep it open,” says Deutsch. “We won’t let it go easily.”