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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, May 17, 2012
Volume 28 No. 20
FASTBALL - Pg. 8Huron County FastballLeague starts season COMPETITION - Pg. 12Local student wins big atphotography competitionLETTER- Pg. 6Former councillor speaksin favour of strategyPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Board haunted by past closures at Stratford meeting
Council waives fee
after Me to We
finishes in red
Political meets plant power
Huron County Warden and Huron East Mayor Bernie MacLellan, left, and MPP Lisa Thompson
were on hand for the replanting of Treblehill Farms Woodlot, a bush that was severly damaged
by the tornado that devastated Goderich and area in August last year. The planting marked the
start of the “Trees for Benmiller” project, a program to help landowners replace trees lost
during the tornado. (Jim Brown photo)
The ghosts of accommodation
reviews past, present and future
haunted Avon Maitland District
School Board (AMDSB) trustees at
their May 8 meeting.
To allow enough space for all the
Stratford parents anxious to hear the
final decision in the Stratford
accommodation review, the meeting
was moved into the cavernous gym
of Seaforth Public School.
It wasn’t the first time the
AMDSB held a meeting in the gym;
trustees had also gathered there
when it was part of Seaforth and
District High School. SDHS was
closed ten years ago after an
accommodation review was
unsuccessfully challenged in court
by a group of Huron East citizens.
Students in the area now attend
Central Huron Secondary School
(CHSS).
***
It’s been almost two years since an
accommodation review announced
Blyth Public School would close.
This September, Blyth students will
be split up between the new
Maitland River Elementary School
(MRES) and Hullett Central Public
School. But Blyth resident Brock
Vodden will not be deterred.
“I am continuing to make every
effort to block the closure of Blyth
Public School,” he wrote in a letter
to Avon Maitland District School
Board chair Jenny Versteeg, “but am
under no illusion that AMDSB will
change its mind in this matter. It will
require some form of intervention at
a higher level in order to get justice
for our community.”
Vodden lists several inaccuracies
he said were in the review process,
including lack of advertising and
lack of representation from Blyth.
In her written response, Versteeg
answered that meetings were
advertised and that representatives
were sent by North Huron and the
Blyth Public School council. After
parents appealed to the Ministry of
Education over the school’s
announced closure, a Ministry of
Education-appointed facilitator
investigated the board’s process and
cited it as “exemplary”.
“You are correct in assuming that
the Avon Maitland District School
Board (AMDSB) is unlikely to
change its course regarding the
closure of Blyth Public School,” she
wrote.
Both letters are available on the
board’s website.
***
How would a decision in the
Stratford accommodation review
affect the rest of AMDSB schools in
Perth and Huron counties? That was
Board Vice-Chair Randy Wagler’s
concern as he voted for the less
expensive of the Stratford
recommendations.
Trustees had heard that the cost of
creating, staffing and supplying
resources for a second French
Immersion (FI) program would be
expensive, although director of
education Ted Doherty said there
were no significant cost differences
between setting up FI programs at
two schools versus turning one
school into French only.
But for Wagler, who represents
southwest Huron, more money for
Stratford would be at the expense of
someone else.
“If we have to spend additional
money on French Immersion where
would the money come from?” he
asked. “It would come at the expense
of resources for teachers, for other
students within Stratford and across
our district, and although those
dollars are generated on a per-pupil
basis we don’t spend them that way.”
“We spend them holistically
throughout the district for the benefit
of all students, so this is clearly not a
Stratford-only decision. It has
ramifications throughout our
district.”
Central East Huron trustee Robert
Hunking disagreed, however.
“Unfortunately, looking at the best
for Stratford, it might not be best for
the board,” he said, explaining his
decision to vote against the motion.
In the end, trustees voted 7-2 to
create a second French Immersion
The first warm weather long
weekend is upon us and it’s almost
Victoria Day.
The Citizen offices will be closed
on Monday, May 21 to observe the
holiday.
Deadlines, therefore, have been
moved to Friday, May 18. Any copy
or advertising for the May 24 issue
of The Citizen is due at the Brussels
office by 2 p.m. on May 18 and by 4
p.m. at the Blyth office (now located
at 413 Queen Street) the same
day.
The Citizen wishes everyone a
happy and safe long weekend.
“I’ll put a motion forward to waive
whatever we can... so that we can
become a we and not a me,” said
North Huron Councillor Bernie
Bailey in an attempt to assist the
annual youth event.
Bailey’s motion, as stated above,
was passed during North Huron
Township Council’s May 7 meeting
in regards to a request from Kathy
Douglas, the Huron-Perth
Presbytery Youth Minister, relating
to the recent Me to We event in
Blyth.
Douglas explained that for the first
time in the event’s history the cost of
running the event was higher than
the amount brought in.
The event cost $1,191.88 to run
and brought in just $450, meaning
the group had lost $741.88 running
the event.
The expenses of the event were as
follows:
• Signage $25
• Hall Rental $446.88
• Posters $25
• Sound/Lighting Tech $200
• Guest Emcee $495
Despite the fact that Director of
Recreation and Facilities Pat
Newson explained that the group
was already receiving a discounted
rate on the rental of the Blyth
Memorial Hall for the event, council
decided to waive as much of the fee
as possible.
Council was informed that, of the
$446.88 rental fee, $55 was charged
by the Blyth Festival and couldn’t be
discounted by the township.
In her letter Douglas explains that
the event, which has been running
for four years, is believed to have not
been as well attended as anticipated
due to a combination of
cancellations and the fact that it was
held at the beginning of the Easter
long weekend.
“This had not been our first choice
for dates,” she explained in the letter,
“but there was a mix up at the theatre
around bookings and we could not
get our first choice.”
Bailey stated he didn’t want to see
an annual event that highlights the
talent of youth cancelled over
$500.
Blyth’s representatives on council;
Councillor Brock Vodden and
Deputy-Reeve David Riach, both
said they wanted to help the group
out but didn’t feel completely
comfortable doing so.
“Ideas like this make me tremble.
This is a very positive group and the
event has been a great success,”
Vodden said. “There are great stories
of kids blossoming and growing but
at the same time we’re setting a
precedence.
“Looking at it from one
perspective, it is a small amount of
money for a good cause,” he said.
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
By Rita Marshall
The Citizen
Holiday for ‘Citizen’
Continued on page 22
Continued on page 22