HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-07-08, Page 28Continued from page 1
against the development in
previous council decisions, stated
that there won’t be any more
development because of this
change.
“We’ve always had a school, it
isn’t going to change that,” he said.
“People have never not come here
because we haven’t had a school,
people are not coming here for other
reasons, like taxes.”
Members of the gallery tried to
appeal to the council on many levels,
requesting that the agreement
not be made to preserve Blyth’s
livelihood, to prevent further traffic
and congestion in Wingham, and
to force the school board to come
up with a different plan or more
funds.
Tensions ran high, with questions
being directed at parties instead of
through the meeting’s chair,
Reeve Neil Vincent, who called
the meeting back to order and
reminded the audience and council
that this is a planning decision, and
that the Accommodation Review
Committee (ARC) process has
run its course. Select council
members echoed that sentiment
and stated it isn’t North
Huron’s decision, or desire, that
has Blyth Public School closing,
but it is also beyond their scope.
Deputy Reeve Murray Scott put
forward the motion to accept
the plan, stating that it isn’t a
popular decision, but a necessary
one.
“Not everyone’s going to win
here,” he said. “The school board
made their decision through the
ARC process. I think we need to
take this recommendation and go
with it.”
Outstanding Ontario Municipal
Board appeals still need to be
resolved before the school’s build
can happen.
PAGE 28. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2010.A week after a decision to closethree elementary schools outright,
and the consolidation of two others
into a to-be-constructed new facility,
the decreased number of student
spaces was cited as part of the plan
to keep the Avon Maitland District
School Board in balanced budgets
for years to come.
“Accommodation reviews are part
of the whole right-sizing, if you
will,” commented Avon Maitland
Finance Committee chair Randy
Wagler, in an interview Tuesday,
June 29, following the approval of a
2010-11 budget of just under $195
million.
Wagler, trustee for
Bluewater/South Huron – home to
two of the to-be-closed facilities –
suggested the consolidation of
schools allows the board to decrease
the proportion of money it spends on
items not directly related to student
learning.
In her presentation to trustees at
their June 29 meeting, business
superintendent Janet Baird-Jackson
noted the trend of declining
enrolment – which started over a
decade ago in the form of fewer
Kindergarten registrants – is now
working its way into secondary
schools. Eventually, she explained, it
is expected that enrolment levels will
stabilize – but at a lower level than
they were 15 years ago.
Accommodation reviews like the
ones just completed in
Bluewater/South Huron and Huron
East/North Perth, Wagler told fellow
trustees, allow the board to “make
sure we can continue to protect
student-focused funding while we’re
in declining enrolment.”
In regular open session, trustees
made short work of the budget
decision, passing unanimously a
document that had been pored over
in previous weeks during meetings
of the Finance Committee and in
closed session. Wagler spoke on
behalf of the Committee, stating
that, “in spite of challenges . . . the
focus of staff . . . was to keep
services to students from beingtouched, as much as possible.”According to Baird-Jackson, thebalanced budget was achieved eventhough the only spending envelope
for which the provincial Education
Ministry provided increased 2010-
11 funding was to cover the teacher
salary increases agreed to during last
year’s four-year Provincial
Framework Agreement (PFA)
negotiations.
“PFAs are funded, for sure, but the
other grants are down,” the business
superintendent said in an interview.
“There were real cuts.”
To make up for those cuts, Avon
Maitland administrators drew
approximately $326,000 from the
board’s Retirement Gratuities
Reserve. And, more importantly,
Baird-Jackson said, they sent the
message out months ago that
employees would have to explore
ways of doing more with less.
“Those conversations were more
full conversations than we’ve had in
the past, and they started earlier,” she
explained. Employees, Baird-
Jackson said, were encouraged to
think about the results they wanted,
and then to think about how to
achieve those results with less
money.
There were some cuts in the Avon
Maitland budget. The Information
Technology department was “re-
aligned,” but Baird-Jackson noted
this process was actually initiated in
previous years.
Among the repercussions are
changes in the way computers are
supplied to elementary and
secondary schools (in some cases,
computers are leased as opposed to
purchased), and decisions to use
smaller, “notebook” computers
instead of larger, more powerful
alternatives.
But budget planners also found a
way to fund one additional Early
Learning teacher, giving the board
11 full-time equivalent staff for next
September’s inaugural full-day,
every-day Kindergarten
programming. The board’s Ministry
allocation for the program provided
for just 10 positions.
School closures helpboard balance budget
North Huron assists
with John St. project
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Ready to camp!
It’s time to enter the Blyth Adventure Zone as the annual tradition of day camp in Blyth
continues this summer. It will be held from July 12-16, at Blyth Lions Park for children between
the ages of five and 10. The camp, organized by the North Huron Recreation Department will
run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The camp counselors are, from left: Natalie Kitts, day camp
supervisor Alison Brown, Adel Dodds, Kaytee Richmond, Dan Stapleton and Janelle Bondi.
(Photo submitted)
By Stew SlaterSpecial to The Citizen
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