The Lucknow Sentinel, 1985-04-17, Page 9•
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Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, April 17, 1985—Page 9
Public invited to attend Board's budget meeting
By Tony McQuail
School Trustee for Ashfield and
W est W awanosh
The Huron County School Board will be
holding a meeting to discuss the budget for
the coming year on April 22, at the Board
of Education office in Clinton. The public is
invited to this meeting. It will start at 7.30
and will involve a detailed discussion of the
estimates developed by the various com-
mittees. Anyone wishing more information
about this meeting should contact me.
I was very pleased with the trustee-
public.school supporters meeting that was
held at Brookside. I felt it provided an
opportunity to learn of your concerns and
also the things which you like about our
school system. It also provided me with a
list of issues to explore which 1 know you
7 are 'interested in. I did receive some
criticism for my role as chairman of the
French Immersion Committee and Separ-
ate School supporter, Clete Dalton, sug-
gested that the public school supporters
should elect a different trustee. Overall, I
felt good about the -meeting and intend to
have another before the end of this school
year. I hope to have our superintendent of
special education, Paul Canpll, in attend-
ance as there was interest in how special
education programs are being provided.
Since the last meeting, I have met with
superintendents, Mr. Tremeer and the
staff at Brookside. I will briefly summarize
the answers to questions which were raised
at the meeting. If you wish more
information please contact me. I would also
like to encourage you to contact the class-
room teacher or the principal if you have
any questions regarding your childs
education or the school •system. They
would be pleased to hear from you.
With regard to Home Economics and
Industrial Arts the administration, is
exploring various options for extending
this program to all grade eights in the
county. They are exploring three possibil-
ities. We could use existing space in a
secondary school, a traveling van or
possibly get time at Lucknow Public
School. These options will be presented at
the April- 22 meeting. At the secondary
level each high school has the responsibil-
ity for planning work related experience as
part of their course if they feel it is
valuable. Some parents are reluctant to
have their children involved in this type of
"out-of-school" program. Several schools,
however, do have such programs. If you
feel such programs are valuable it would be
helpful if you would contact your local high
school and let the principal know your
views.
Considerable effort goes into coordinat-
ing professional development (PD) days.
Because of religious holidays it is not
always possible to coordinate the days
• taken by separate and public school
systems. Many different concerns get
considered. This year the discussion of
• establishing a day to fall within the
Flowing Match week lost because of a
conflict with the Seaforth and Brussels
school fairs which were judged to be of
more local importance. Some days are
chosen because that is the only time a
resource person can be available. Parents
and community members are welcome at
PD days.
On the question of,class sets of readers, I
will quote the response of Arnold Mailers,
superintendent of program. "The philos-
ophy upon which a reader for every student
was originated came out of research done
in the 1930s in the United States. We now
know and have known for twenty years that
this is one of the poorest ways to teach
reading. It would be better to have five
copies of six different readers than thirty
copies of one reader in a classroom. We are
making great efforts to move teachers
toward grouping students and to individ-
ualize instruction where possible rather
than providing the lock -step programs
which class sets of texts require."
In talking with the staff at Brookside
they are using the classroom supplies
budget to buy a variety of reading material
to meet a variety Of student interests and
abilities. Parents with questions about how
this is working with their child should
contact the classroom teacher or the
principal. -
Each year the schools put in a capital
request for large items. A limited number
of these are funded by the school board. A
basket ball hoop for the stage end of the
auditorium is on this years capital request
from Brookside. It is, however, not as high
a priority item as , class room, office and
computer equipment. The school does have
hoops which are appropriate for gym class
practice for various sizes of students. Each
item on the capital request is considered
with regard to its contribution to the
education in the school. _Any one of the
basket balk hoops at Brookside is better
than that I can remember from my school //
days. If the administration feels that other TRUSTEE'S REPORT
items are educationally or more value
members of the community might wish to
help contribute toward a retractable basket
ball hoop for their use and the schools.
None of our schools have swimming
pools nor is there any intention of spending
capital on swirruning pools. Some schools
do have a swimming program if they have
access to an indoor pool. Each school
decides how to allocate its special program
budget in this regard. At Brookside use is
made of the arena facility for skating and
hockey as well as other field trips. Parents
concerned with their childs ability to swim
should consider the litclmow Recreational
Departments summer swimming program.
This oonvers in summary about half the
issues I have looked into. I will cover the
others in my next report. In the. meantime
if you have any questions please contact
me or your local school. The staff that I
have talked with feel that education is a
• shared responsibility between parents and
teachers, community and school. They.
would appreciate hearingyour thoughts
'and concerns.
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