Local parents are feeling frustrated after the local french catholic school board cut the Sports Academies program.
Erika Vigneux is just one of many parents concerned by this decision, after receiving a phone call on April 4 from Csc Providence that the program was cancelled and her daughter would not be enrolled - despite a number of students already being registered.
Her daughter Natalie, who is currently in Grade 6, was enrolled to play hockey in this program at E.J. Lajeunesse next year.
This program allows students in Grade 7 and 8 to focus on developing athletic talent through structured training, education, and support services. This program was offered for hockey, dance, and soccer at both Lajeunesse and L'Essor.
Vigneux says a number of open houses were held last fall and this year, students were already registered, and deposits were already paid for this September when they received notice that the program was cut
She says while she heard a couple of different reasoning's behind the program being cut such as low enrolment, she says they were told the reason is due to a lack of funding available, and budget cuts.
Vigneux adds that while they were promised their deposit would be refunded, it's about more than that.
"On top of the deposit we put down, we've also purchased Lajeunesse uniforms, we've purchased an entire second set of hockey equipment because the kids can't bring their hockey equipment on the bus, so they have to keep one at the school, and then when they play hockey on the weekends they have to have their extra."
She says the parents are doing everything they can.
"I wrote the board, a lot of people started making phone calls, and writing the board. I reached out to MP's, city councillors, mayors, this affects kids in Lakeshore, this affects kids in Harrow, in Essex, in Amherstburg, in Windsor, in LaSalle, in Tecumseh."
She says Natalie is devastated.
"She was just so upset, like 'I don't understand why I can't go to Lajeunesse, why has this program been taken away from us?' And I would hear her on phone conversations with her friends that were also supposed to go and just basically saying the same thing like 'if I had been born a year earlier, I would be able to go to this, I was supposed to start in September and now I can't'. She's... she's very upset."
Vigneux adds that a number of parents plan to attend the next board meeting being held in May.
A petition has been launched against the decision, and can be found by clicking here.
AM800 News has reached out to Csc Providence for comment, however has not heard back at the time of publication.