A superintendent of education with the Avon Maitland District School Board says a recent opinion piece in a Toronto newspaper that was critical of French immersion does not reflect the experience of the Avon Maitland Board.
Jane Morris says the board has looked at expanding French immersion into Huron County several times and continually runs up against the same issues.
The first is that Huron County's interest in French immersion is spread out over a very wide area and the ministry does not provide transportation costs for the program.
The second issue is finding qualified French immersion teachers. Morris says finding and retaining good teachers is always a challenge for a rural board like Avon Maitland, and finding qualified French teachers is a challenge throughout the province.