Efforts are ramping up to save one of Toronto’s only high school film programs with parents rallying together to have their voices heard.
Students at Earl Haig Secondary School have been working to try and save the Claude Watson Film Arts program – one of just two programs of its kind in the city – since it was quietly cut for incoming students.
“I felt confused. I felt like it makes no sense that this would happen,” said Jack Steinhart, a Grade 12 film arts student.
“We were just all very upset and frustrated the people weren’t giving us the answers we wanted,” added Olive Maeno-McGrath, a Grade 11 student in the film arts program
They created a petition, a website, and videos to drum up support to save it, but so far haven’t had any luck, but now, they’re getting loud again.
“A group of parents decided that they needed some help getting heard,” said Andree Weisman, the parent of a Grade 11 film arts student, who is among those leading the charge to save the program
She says they’ve made every effort to reach school officials in an attempt to get them to reverse course, but have been met with near radio silence.
The province’s recent move to put the school board under supervision hasn’t helped.
“We had actually the support of our trustee and then lost contact when the supervisor was appointed. So we’ve been struggling,” Weisman added.
According to the Toronto District School Board (TDSB), the cut comes from increasing enrollment pressure on the school.
Earl Haig is bursting at the seams and officials say they were forced to implement an old cap on the arts program of 100 students per grade.
“With Grade 9 capped at approximately 100 students – it is not possible to maintain five separate streams, which would have seen approximately 20 students in each. As a result, the school decided to reduce the number of streams to four,” a spokesperson reiterated to CityNews in a statement.
Parents are questioning why Film was the chosen stream to cut, given the high demand and how few programs there are. They’re aiming to take their pleas to the parent involvement advisory committee next week.
“We have a core of about 10 parents who are willing to create this committee to go and present to the TDSB,” said Rachel Nir, another parent.
“For an entire region north of Bloor [Street] to lose a program means that they have a big disadvantage for their future plans,” added Anna Gorka, the parent of a Grade 10 film student.
The committee meeting is set to take place on Tuesday night.
In the meantime, the film students are preparing for their next big showcase, The Suspense Film Festival which happens Wednesday at 7 p.m.
