Deachman: ‘A tragic misstep’ — closing OCDSB alternative schools helps no one

The public school board’s program has helped many kids who might never have completed their education otherwise. Don’t shut it down.

Published May 01, 2025

Last updated May 01, 2025

5 minute read

Emily Addison is co-chair of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board’s Alternative Schools Advisory Committee, and is trying to save the board’s alternative school program from the chopping block. Her son, Calum Hyde, goes to Churchill Alternative school. (JEAN LEVAC/Postmedia) Photo by Jean Levac /PostmediaArticle content

After hearing parents describe their children’s experiences at alternative schools, it’s difficult to believe that the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board is even considering eliminating that program at its elementary schools — another victim on the chopping block of so-called efficiencies.

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The parents who recently raised their concerns about this with trustees simply want what we all want: the best possible education for our children. Their kids, though, don’t flourish in the cookie-cutter factories of public education. But many of them do at alternative schools, where their individual needs can be better attended to.

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“Thanks to Riverview’s alternative approach,” wrote one mother of two, “they go to school with excitement, return home with joy, and even express sadness on weekends when school is out.

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“To lose the alternative program over concerns of financial efficiency would be a tragic misstep.”

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Another quoted her son, who told her, “At Summit, my teachers and friends will not let me fade into the background — they always pull me out.”

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There are scores more testimonials. Emily Addison, co-chair of the board’s Alternative Schools Advisory Committee, sent an email in March to alternative stream families, asking them to share their experiences. More than 50 parents responded with examples of improved academic performance, improved mental well-being, increased awareness of community, greater school engagement and greater interest in learning.

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“You can say that these are individual stories,” Addison says, “but when there is a large enough pattern of experience and we can demonstrate that this happens again and again and again, then this is not an aberration.”

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I can gladly add my name to the list of parents who have witnessed the alternative program work its magic. My daughter, now in her 30s, credits the program’s flexibility for recognizing her specific needs and allowing her to work at her own pace. Otherwise, she says, she doubts she would have finished school. Today, she’s a successful small-business owner.

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All kinds of students attend

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What makes the alternative program different? It is underpinned by seven tenets: cooperation and teamwork; innovative approaches to teaching and learning; a balance of student- and teacher-directed learning; multi-age classes; an integrated curriculum that emphasizes the connections between subjects; a family/community-centred school environment; and ongoing assessments that don’t emphasize grades, but rather each student’s needs and learning styles.

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All kinds of students attend alternative schools, says Addison. There are those with special needs, but also many students whose families are simply drawn to the program’s vibe, such as its non-competitive nature and community focus.

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“The alternative program is open and designed for anyone who wants to be a learner in that space,” she says.

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It doesn’t work for everyone, but it works very well for hundreds of Ottawa students currently attending the five OCDSB elementary alternative schools: Churchill, Lady Evelyn, Regina Street, Riverview and Summit. According to Addison, about 700 students are enrolled, a figure that’s been in decline in recent years. As part of the sweeping changes recommended in the board’s ongoing elementary program review, staff are recommending that it be phased out and its students folded back into the regular stream, i.e. into regular classrooms.

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Addison blames the decline in enrolment on the board’s inaction over the past decade in promoting it

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By the board’s own admission (I submit into evidence Report No. 25-022), the elementary program review that it is currently in the midst of — and which has upset many parents for other reasons, such as school boundary changes — is part of a “vision exercise” to ensure “inclusive, high-quality and accessible programs.”

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How does doing away with the alternative program accomplish that?

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Savings? What savings?

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Inclusivity, quality and accessibility won’t be served. Certainly not for many of the square-peg alternative kids who struggle to fit in the generally prescribed round holes of learning, a conformity they’ll be forced into if the program gets axed. Nixing the program also doesn’t benefit the round-peg, so-called “normal” kids whose teachers and classrooms will strain under the influx of students ill-suited for that kind of learning.

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And what are the savings? Class size formulas and staffing in the two streams are currently the same, and the same curriculum is covered. The only real financial benefit would be the elimination of the alternative schools’ larger catchment areas, thus reducing transportation costs. The schools themselves would be repurposed as part of the board’s regular programming.

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The board initially said it expected transportation savings of $1.2 million annually, but subsequently noted it would be lower because that estimate didn’t take into account that many students currently attending alternative schools would still require transportation.

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Senior staff at the board also indicated that most of the savings year-over-year would be realized by the education ministry and not the board.

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Even if those savings helped the board reduce its spending, though, how would the savings from shuttering the alternative program compare to the long-term costs of failing students, or the overall enrolment loss as parents potentially move their children to other boards? Both the French Catholic and French public boards, says Addison, have alternative programming. Such small savings hardly justify abandoning an education stream that works for so many.

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If anything, the board should consider expanding the program.

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The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board meets next week to mull staff recommendations. Photo by Errol McGihon /PostmediaArticle content

As things stand, the five schools that offer Alternative programs extend only as far west as Lincoln Heights (Regina Street Alternative School) and as far east as Alta Vista (Riverview). Families in suburban areas such as Kanata, Barrhaven and Orléans don’t have convenient access to the program. Addison says she’d like to see a pilot program offer alternative education in those areas. She points to Trillium Elementary School in Orléans as an example of where it could be adopted. The school, she says, is projected to operate at just 62 per cent capacity post-reorganization, and so could be used to test a “school-within-a-school” model.

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The board, meanwhile, needs to do a better job marketing the alternative program to boost enrolment. One parent at an April 22 town hall meeting with trustees said he only learned of it by word-of-mouth from other parents. Rosalind Paciga, who also spoke at the meeting, said that many parents only discover the program when their child is in crisis, when the inadequacies of the mainstream program are exposed.

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“Now that the review has finally sparked awareness and brought attention to the program are we hearing how parents wish they knew about the program sooner,” she said. “Parents want this program. Students need this program. The community supports this program. The answer is not elimination, it’s revitalization.”

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The board has been running deficits for years and can no longer do so. In looking for solutions, it faces opposition on just about every front.

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Board staff’s final recommendations on the elementary program review are expected to be made public on Thursday or Friday, and officially presented to the board for discussion on May 6. A final decision is expected on May 13.

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When weighing its options, the board should consider the thousands of students, past and present, who owe their success to the alternative program, and the many more who still might.

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