We, the undersigned parents, students, teachers, and community members, urge the trustees of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board to OCDSB align with the best practices in the Pupil Accommodation Review guidelines to ensure community involvement, transparency, and data-informed decision-making in the Elementary Program Review process.

Dismantling Alternative Schools: The proposed plan ends Alternative programs. These schools provide important educational approaches that work for many students who struggle in conventional settings.

Undermining Established School Communities: The "community schools" concept may sound positive in theory, but in practice, it destroys the diverse, inclusive school communities we've built over years. These are places where our kids have built friendships, connections, and supports. The proposed forced school changes are fundamentally different from the planned progression with their cohort.

Eliminating Specialized Programs: The proposal would end 26 specialized program classes, forcing vulnerable students to integrate into mainstream classrooms. These programs provide essential services for children with specific needs, and dismantling them would cause significant educational and emotional setbacks for these students.

Parents should be able to choose the educational environment that best suits their children's needs. This plan upends the careful education choices that parents have made for their children, with seemingly little consideration for the impact. Director Buffone framed the changes as short term pain for long-term gain. The short-term pain will be felt by our school community and our children. It’s unclear what they stand to gain. 

We call on the OCDSB trustees to reject this proposal in its current form and to return to the drawing board with meaningful parent and community input to develop a plan that maintains existing communities and supports ALL students. 

Our children deserve better than a hastily implemented plan that prioritizes administrative convenience over educational quality and student well-being. Please sign and share widely.