High schools in Renfrew County are feeling the impact of increased class sizes. Director of Education for the Renfrew County District School Board (RCDSB), Pino Buffone, says the reduction in funding from the government means they can’t offer as many courses as they were able to before.
Buffone adds staff are doing their best to reduce the impact for students. He says on top of the increased class sizes, reduction in courses offered and combined lessons they no longer offer the Programs for Alternative Learning (PAL) at any sites, but do still have Supervised Alternative Learning (SAL).
The Director of Education says the impact varies from school to school depending on what courses were previously offered.
Buffone says ADHS in Arnprior had over a dozen classes cut however there was no impact at Valour in Petawawa. Other schools such as RCI in Renfrew and Opeongo in Cobden now only have one music class for students in Grade 9 to 12. There’s no more Robotics class offered at Fellowes in Pembroke, students at McKenzie in Deep River have to do French via eLearning and at Madawaska Valley High School in Barry’s Bay there’s a combined Grade 9 to 12 English Class in locally developed. A full list of all the impacts at schools with the RCDSB can be found up on our website.
Buffone is hopeful they can work out a good deal in the current round of negotiations. High school teachers across the province have been asked for a strike vote and the RCDSB will make their decision closer to the November 15th deadline. Read more on that story here.
COURSES NOT OFFERED THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY OFFERED
Arnprior District High School: Grade 11 and 12 Drama, Grade 10, 11 and 12 Music, Grade 11 College Business, Grade 11 College/University Accounting, Grade 12 Business Leadership, Grade 10 Careers/Civics in French, Grade 11 History, Grade 12 Writers Craft, Grade 10 Discovering the Workplace, Grade 11 Science
Other Impacts: Combined Grade 9 and 10 French classes, Grade 11 College and University Math, Grade 10 Fitness and Healthy Active Living, Grade 10 Health Active Living girls and boys, Grade 11 and 12 College Chemistry, Grade 11 and 12 Transportation Technology
COURSES NOT OFFERED THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY OFFERED
Renfrew Collegiate Institute: Grade 11 and 12 Physics, Grade 12 Families in Canada, Grade 12 Challenge and Change in Society, Grade 12 Calculus
Other Impacts: Combined music class 9-12 with only one section instead of two
COURSES NOT OFFERED THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY OFFERED
Opeongo High School: Grade 11 Parenting, Grade 12 Chemistry, Grade 12 Physics
Other Impacts: Drama and Music is now combined Grade 9 to 12, all locally developed courses (English, Math and Science) are combined with Applied levels, smaller specially courses to support at risk individuals not running
COURSES NOT OFFERED THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY OFFERED
Fellowes High School: Grade 11 Parenting, Grade 12 Philosophy, Grade 12 Science, Robotics
Other Impacts: One less section of Guidance, many sections are full and can’t offer multiple such as in the past therefore students need to use online learning for Grade 11 University Chemistry, Grade 12 College Chemistry, Grade 12 University Intro Kinesiology, Grade 12 Physics
COURSES NOT OFFERED THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY OFFERED
Valour: No impact.
COURSES NOT OFFERED THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY OFFERED
McKenzie Community School: Grade 11 and 12 Core French, Senior Social Sciences, Transportation Technology
Other Impacts: French offered via eLearning
COURSES NOT OFFERED THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY OFFERED
Madawaska Valley District High School: Grade 9 Locally Developed Science, Grade 10 Locally Developed Science, Grade 12 Science, Grade 12 College Mathematics for College Technology
Other Impacts: Grade 9 and 10 locally developed English have been combined with Grade 11 and 12 Workplace English, no longer have combined Business/Tech option for Grade 9, numerous combined Academic, Applied and Locally Developed courses in Grade 9 and 10
