The Lambton-Kent District School Board won't be sending a letter to the province asking for local EQAO testing to be put on hold.
Trustee Jack Fletcher's motion asking for the board to send that letter was voted down at Tuesday night's meeting. He says there was a good discussion about it, though.
"Even though the test is not perfect and there are flaws, [the board members] felt that the information they were getting was very valuable for future planning and they didn't want to miss that opportunity," says Fletcher, adding the provincial government is currently reviewing the EQAO testing process. "That was a concern -- the timing. [Board members] really believe things are going to change."
Fletcher says as part of the review process, the province is holding a meeting in Windsor on Monday, December 4.
Even though his motion was denied, Fletcher says he is still standing by the message the letter would have sent to provincial officials.
"My major concern was that we send a message to the government that we're not satisfied and I believe asking for a suspension would have... sped up the process," says Fletcher. "Whether that's true or not, I don't know, but that was my major reason."
Fletcher says he's not against EQAO testing, but he does think the process could be improved. His motion to the board also cited that the money that would be saved by "eliminating yearly EQAO testing on every student in the grades tested could be put to much better use in the classroom in supporting our student learning."