The final recommendations in a long and controversial review of elementary programs at Ottawa’s largest school board have been released — and they’re not much different from the preliminary recommendations.
The goal of the program review was to return as many students as possible to neighbourhood schools and offer both French immersion and English in schools. This would balance out school populations and ensure all elementary schools remained viable. As it stands, some elementary schools at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board have
fewer than 200 students or more than 900
.
The final recommendations include changes to the way French immersion is delivered, phasing out alternative schools and some special education classes and changes to school boundaries.
Changing school boundaries
In
response to fierce controversy
over boundary changes, a revised plan was presented to trustees on April 8, moving away from a proposal that would see some schools offering kindergarten to Grade 3 and others offering Grade 4 to Grade 8. The proposal had “generated numerous concerns about siblings attending different schools,” said the report.
But on the flip side, the revisions made it harder to dual-track some schools. Five single-track English schools would remain under the revisions (compared to 14 currently), and six single-track French immersion schools would stay (compared to 15 currently).
The final recommendations report notes that enrolment and program size will also have to be closely monitored to ensure that programs are viable, especially at dual-track sites.
“In some cases, where trends indicate enrolment in particular programs/schools will continue to be low, it may be necessary to bring forward additional changes,” said the report, which noted that s middle French immersion and the alternative program are phased out, low enrolment may mean looking at relocation and consolidation options.
One additional change to the plan has been made, which involves revising the grade configuration at Rockcliffe Park Public School. The school will become a Kindergarten to Grade 8 dual-track school, as of September 2026, affecting the attendance boundaries of Rockcliffe Park Public School, York Street Public School, and Queen Elizabeth Public School.
Ending separate special needs program classes
The proposed model includes gradually phasing out 26 specialized program classes for students with special needs. These proposals were previously outlined in January and haven’t changed.
Students currently in the programs will be able to continue until the end of their program, according to the final recommendations. Support staff assigned to the programs will be reassigned to support learning in regular classrooms.
The programs to be phased out include one gifted primary class for up to 20 students; 11 classes of the language learning disabilities program with up to 10 students in each class, and 14 classes with up to eight students in each of the learning disabilities semi-integrated program.
Changes to French immersion
In French immersion, kindergarten will continue to be offered half in English and half in French.
Middle French immersion (MFI) will be eliminated. Students currently in Grades 2 and 3 of the English program will retain the option to enroll in the middle French immersion program in Grade 4 in September 2025 and September 2026.
MFI programs will, in most cases, remain at their current school locations during the phase-out period. However, there are a couple of situations where it will be necessary to relocate an MFI program effective September 2026 as part of the broader school configuration changes.
The last cohort of middle French immersion students would enter Grade 4 in September 2026 and complete Grade 8 by the end of the 2030-2031 school year.
There will be “fluid entry” to French immersion, allowing flexible entry into immersion beginning a Grade 1 through Grade 3. Students currently in Grade 1 of the English program will have the option to enrol in the French immersion program for Grade 3 in September 2026, as part of the “fluid” entry.
Where possible, math and language classes will be combined in both French immersion and English tracks through “modernizing the approach to elementary timetabling and scheduling,” which involves standardizing the length of instructional blocks to 60 minutes, said the report.
“At dual-track sites, students from the two programs will be combined during their English and/or math blocks, wherever feasible, ensuring that students attending the same school have an opportunity to learn and engage with peers across programs.”
Meanwhile, the report noted that the board will be introducing the DELF PRIM (Diplôme d’études en langue française or French language studies diploma) on a voluntary basis for students in Grade 6, beginning with a pilot this spring and expanding in the spring of 2026.
The DELF PRIM is an official French-language diploma for children learning French as a second language, issued by the French Ministry of National Education. It is currently available to all Grade 12 students in the OCDSB and offers an opportunity for students to take an exam that assesses their French language communication skills. It also helps identify strengths and areas for growth for French immersion at the school board.
Phasing out alternative schools
The report sticks to an
earlier recommendation to phase out
alternative schools.
Students currently in a program at one of the five schools and any other students registering for September 2025, including new junior kindergarten students, would continue to have access to alternative programming until they complete Grade 6 or Grade 8.
The last cohort of junior kindergarten alternative school students entering next September will complete Grade 6 at the end of the 2032-2033 school year. Those opting to continue to Grade 8 will finish at the end of the 2034-2035 school year.
This September, the five alternative schools will begin to transition to community schools. Current attendance boundaries for alternative schools will remain in place during the phase-out period. However, it may become necessary to look at consolidation or relocation options in future years, based on enrolment trends over time, said the report.
The unanswered questions
There are some questions that remain unanswered in the report, including how decisions will be made about “grandparenting” students at their current school.
Under the current proposals, about 1,500 more students may be required to move schools in September 2026, about half the number expected to move before revisions were made.
“This number may decrease based on the number of exemptions granted to students through the exemptions process,” said the report.
“As part of the transition planning, measures will be included to support students in managing the change, including those who may experience increased anxiety with change. This may include, for example, opportunities for students to visit and become familiar with their new school and to meet peers.”
Last month, the board said
mechanisms for making grandparenting decisions
will likely be in place at the end of the current school year, and parents will receive information about the process and the timelines between September and December. The boundary changes are set to take effect in September 2026.
Trustees are scheduled to debate the final recommendations on May 16, with decisions to be made May 13.
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