CBC: After 4 Teachers in 1 Year, Parents Say Staffing Issues Hurting Students at Etobicoke School

At John English Junior Middle School in Etobicoke, parents of French immersion students say they're upset some kids will have had at least four different teachers before the school year ends, one of whom couldn't speak French. (John English Junior Middle School/Facebook)

Parents of school children enrolled in a French immersion class at a Toronto public school say staffing issues are leaving their kids behind, with three substitute teachers — including a non-French speaker — leading the class this school year already, and one new unnamed teacher still to come.

Christine Cowern's four-year-old started school last fall at John English Junior Middle School, entering a junior kindergarten French immersion program. Cowern said she liked the small class size of 15, hoping he would get more one-on-one time with the teacher. But that class, and teacher, didn't last long.

"Three weeks in, we got a message saying that his class was actually going to be absorbed into one of the existing French classes," Cowern said.

The existing class, she says, was initially taught by a substitute teacher whom Cowern said was "a fantastic teacher," with one major flaw…