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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-05-03, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2012.Principals shift throughout school board Retirements and new Grade 7/8 additions to two high schools have made for a long list of principal and vice-principal placements at the Avon Maitland District School Board (AMDSB) this September. Superintendent of education, human resources, Jodie Baker told trustees that new positions for administration at the new Grade 7/8 wings of South Huron District High School and F.E. Madill Secondary School made the list longer than usual, as did a number of retirements from elementary school principals. Changes will affect many localschools. In Mitchell, Barry Brohmanwill become the new VP at Mitchell District High School, leaving Listowel District Secondary School, while Marie Mitchell will leave her position as Grade 7/8 administrator at Goderich District Collegiate Institute to become vice-principal at Upper Thames Elementary School. In Listowel, John Herbert will replace Brohman as the new vice- principal for Listowel District Secondary School. In Clinton, Anne Hathaway Public School’s JoAnne Knechtel replaces Gary Coursey as vice-principal at Clinton Public School and George McEwan from Goderich DistrictCollegiate Institute replaces LaurieLangstaff as principal of Central Huron Secondary School. Eleanor Salmon will become principal of Goderich District Collegiate Institute while Jennifer Skelding will be the Grade 7/8 administrator at the school’s elementary wing. Huron Centennial’s Kerry Carlyle will become the first Grade 7/8 administrator at South Huron District High School. Gary Coursey will become vice-principal of Exeter Public School. Tom Bishop of South Perth Central will take over the vice- principal post at Huron Centennial.Joining Bishop will be South Perthprincipal Carol Rauser who will take over Huron Centennial principal duties from Debbie Johnson. Betty Beer Vanrooy will become the principal of the newly named Bluewater Coast Elementary School. In north Huron, Suzanne Irwin will become the Grade 7 and 8 administrator at F.E. Madill, while Cheryl Peach will become vice- principal for the new Maitland River Elementary School (MRES), which will be housed at what used to be Turnberry Central. Alice McDowell will be principal of Maitland River Elementary School. Wendy Armstrong-Gibson will become principal of North Woods Elementary, while Cathy Goetz will become vice-principal of Howick Central. Ruth Lovell moves to Sprucedale Public School as principal. *** Secondary schools across the Avon Maitland District School Board (AMDSB) are already benefitting from the student senate’s March symposium, student trustee Alanna Coneybeare says. Coneybeare, a student at Listowel District Secondary School, told trustees at their April 24 meeting that marketing expert and motivational speaker Ian Tyson shared several important ideas at the March 22 symposium. She said that each secondary school council in the board has started implementing those ideas in different ways over the last several weeks.The student council at MitchellDistrict High School (MDHS) is bringing in Tyson as a speaker, while Central Huron Secondary School (CHSS) council has used Tyson’s techniques to greatly increase attendance at their school dances. F.E. Madill Secondary School (FEMSS) student council decided to hold an entire spirit week with “great attendance numbers” at their events, said Coneybeare, and Listowel District Secondary School (LDSS) is holding a pep rally, with anticipation high. “We’re seeing these ideas transform the schools,” she said. Coneybeare added that the student senators are considering holding two symposiums, adding another one at the beginning of the year. She noted that if Tyson’s ideas had been shared back in September, school councils could have been using them for the whole school year instead of for the last few months. *** Civil work is set to begin at South Huron District High School and Exeter Public School this summer after the AMDSB accepted a tender from Lavis Contracting at their April 24 meeting. The work will include fixing up the bus lane and walkways at South Huron District High School, creating a new basketball court for the Grade 7/8 students and adding parking on the east side of the building. Work at Exeter Public School includes improving walkways from the THE EDITOR, I’ve been distracted the past few weeks, but I’m now catching up on my reading of The Citizen. Believe me there's a lot of reading and a lot of catching up. I travel regionally, and have an advantage in that I also get to read a number of other regional rural newspapers, and the stories about the province’s Sunshine List seem to be top of mind elsewhere. Province- wide this list has grown 136 per cent since 2006 to almost 80,000 so- called civil servants (an increase from 33,440), or almost 2.5 times. The goal of the list is to allow taxpayers, like us, to compare performance with compensation, and how tax dollars are spent. According to the national research director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the list has grown at an "astounding rate", far outstripping the growth in population or even the effects of inflation. Avon Maitland District School Board salaries grow inversely to school population in Huron-Perth as well. But I digress. I began my catch up reading chronologically, beginning with the April 5 edition of The Citizen, and noted with some concern Rita Marshall’s account of the Avon Maitland District School Board’s 2011 Sunshine List. Actually, I had been familiar with the list from the Ministry of Finance website previously. What I found particularly egregious in the story were comments attributed to two individuals within the school board who matter-of-factly stated that “as salaries increase, that number will go up” and the question about “if the province was going to adjust the $100,000 figure for inflation.” One comment presumes that salaries will go up, and the other infers that salaries should be adjusted for inflation. One presumes that most people in this province, who are paying attention, are aware, salaries are not going up, or even keeping pace with inflation, except apparently in the public sector. A 2010 Huron County Demographic Report indicates that median income of private households in Huron County was approximately $52,000 in 2005. I expect that figure hasn’t changed much since then. The 2011 information from Statscan isn’t available that I can see. So how does one justify salaries of up to almost four times the median household incomes? In a period of austerity, no less. In fact, with board-directed school closures, I'm going to presume that as schools are closed, front line teaching resources as well as school support staff are going to be laid off. Administrators will have less constituents to be administrated. The process, like the Accommodation Review Committee process will have an obvious domino effect and lead to less need for as many administrators. And with less responsibility. Remaining administrators presumably will be receptive to accepting salary reductions due to the reduction in their work loads (less schools, people, etc.) – also not unlike what goes on in the private sector. I would then presume that the 2012 Sunshine List will accordingly be reduced by the same percentage as the percentage of schools being closed within each region. I then read Denny Scott’s column in the April 12 edition of The Citizen and learned that another trustee had commented on the need for inflationary salary adjustments within the system. It was after reading this that I finally decided to forward my comments. As Denny stated, there’s “a problem that needs to be addressed.” And in my opinion, far sooner than later. This disconnect, this sense of empowerment and entitlement goes beyond what any taxpayer should be willing to accept. While communities go through economic turmoil as schools are closed, school bureaucracies have weathered the economic headwinds rather nicely. It's time for a change to this paradigm. I think we deserve more. Greg Sarachman, Blyth, ON LARGE ITEM PICKUP 2012 FOR THE URBAN AREAS OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF MORRIS-TURNBERRY Areas included:Belgrave, Belmore, Bluevale, Fringe of Brussels, Junctionville, Lower Wingham, North Wingham, Turnberry Estates, Walton The Municipality of Morris-Turnberry is hosting a “Large Item Pickup” or “Treasure Swap” Day for all of the residents in the URBAN AREAS on FRIDAY, MAY 11TH, 2012 If you have any large items you would like to give away or dispose of, set them out at the Curb by 9:00 am on Friday, May 11th, 2012. Please identify items that are available to be “swapped” by tying a piece of material on them.Any person looking for items must remember that only the items identified with a piece of material are available for taking. The Municipality is not responsible for items accidentally removed by error, so all residents should ensure that all items are correctly labelled or removed from the area. Any items not “swapped” by Monday, May 14th, 2012, will be collected on Monday, May 14th, 2012 commencing at 9 am and transferred to the Landfill site. If you wish to save any item not taken, please remove them from the curb before 9 am on Monday, May 14th, 2012. Items that are available for collection are: ♦ Household furniture ♦ Appliances ♦ Barbecues ♦ Rototillers or other gardening tools ♦ Lawnmowers ♦ Lawn chairs and tables ♦ Clothing ♦ Refrigerators, freezers or air conditioners — only with a “Freon Free” sticker. The following items WILL NOT be picked up: ♦ Regular Household garbage ♦ Recycling materials ♦ Construction or Demolition Debris ♦ Tires ♦ Agricultural Waste MUNICIPALITY OF MORRIS-TURNBERRY 2012 SPRING YARD WASTE COLLECTION The Municipality will be picking up leaves, grass clippings and yard waste in the Morris-Turnberry Urban areas on the following dates: Thursday, May 3, 2012 and Thursday, May, 10, 2012 NO BAG TAGS ARE REQUIRED FOR THIS PICKUP! Areas included:Belgrave, Belmore, Bluevale, Fringe of Brussels, Junctionville, Lower Wingham, North Wingham, Turnberry Estates, Walton Leaves, grass clippings and yard waste may also be delivered to the Morris-Turnberry Landfill Site at 85047 Clyde Line, any Wednesday or Saturday. Materials MUST be placed at the curb in Biodegradable Bags. Paper Organic Yard Waste bags,can be purchased at Stainton Hardware and Hodgins RONA in Wingham, OR Biodegradable Mesh bags can be purchased at Hodgins RONA, Wingham and Henderson RONA, Lucknow. The Bags must be placed at the curb by 7 a.m. for collection. The Bags will be picked up by a different truck than the regular garbage. Plastic bags are not acceptable for yard waste and will NOT be picked up. The Municipality encourages grass clippings to be left on your lawn providing valuable moisture and nutrients to your lawn. Residents should not include tree branches, which are greater than 4" in diameter and 5 feet long. Use strong twine to bundle tree or shrub branches. Yard waste DOES NOT include sod, soil, lumber, tree stumps or stones and must be free of metal, food wastes and garbage. The Municipality will NOT pick up loose branches! Any questions please contact the Municipal Office at 519-887-6137 Writer takes issue with locals on Sunshine List Letters to the Editor By Rita MarshallSpecial to The Citizen Continued on page 30