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The Lucknow Sentinel, 1990-05-23, Page 1PUIPLUMOD Wateeellit„ OMAR* L.* Thirty-two youngsters register for kindergarten Lucknow Central Public gchoOl. will have one of the, larger kindergarten , classes it has seen in some Wm, Last week, during a two day period, 32 area youngsters registered for the fall classes: Each child spent a little time in the kindergarten classroom mingling With this year's young ones and getting an idea of what next year. would be like for them. They then met with.I0an Johnson, ' of the Bruce Grey Owen Soimd Health Utiit for assessment. Mr.4 Johnson 'check, • eci.the hearing, vision and speech of each child to identify if there were any ehildren with severe problems in any , of the, aforementioned areas. Mrs. Johnson said 'early detection allows the parents to , seek the appropriate diagnosis arid treat- ment ;pror to the child starting school, thus alleviating any undue Area to the child that Could be esPertoredlifsuch problems axe undetected. - • ' • • 1 • • • • ' • ' • ' • . ' . „., . ' . • . • , ••••W •••••••..., Cindy Willits,' tlaeghtet of Bruce .and ,Barb Willits, was one of 32 area Youngsters registering for fall kindergarten •classeii, at 'Lucknow Central 'Public School: Cindy is shown having her hearing tested by Joan JOinnion, of Brace Grey Owen Sound Ilealth.1101t. Othee•asseilinnente Included vision and.,speech, Cindy euio'ed 'visiting the Itindertarten,elaiii,and ftBOt wIUi Mrs. Joluea, teU13g her lana es -the way Out that she really :Monet ready ' to hoMei '(Pat thiingstea -Photo/ , • " Education tax up over 17 per cent for Bruce by Patrick Rank: CHESLEY--Public schOol supporters in Bruce County will face an average in- crease in mill rates of 17.5 per cent, following approval of the Bruce County Board of Education's 1990. budget. The $61,217,000 budget, which represents an increase of 15.4 per cent over. the 1989 budget, was approved by the board at its May. 16 meeting. Barry Schmidt, finance committee chahman, said the committee pared about $2 million from the proposed budget to keep the mill rate increase down to 17.5 per cent. • "That 12 million may not sound like much in terms of a $61 million budget, but it allowed for a 10 per cent decrease on the mill.rate increase. In our original graph, we were looking at an increase of 28 per cent." Schmidt said about 74 per cent of the budget is allocated to staff salaries and a further five or six per cent to teiutspor- tation. That represents nearly '80 per cent of the budget as "fixed contractual ' obligations, prior to the budget process." "This budget has been pared to the point where any additional cuts would have resulted in substantial programs reductions the board was not prepared to " make." Cut from the budget were two propos- ed Junior Kindergarten pilot projects under consideration for a September, 1990 start-up. In addition, school budgets were reduc- ed by $446,300, plant operations cut by $138,000 and $1,926,000 in proposed capital construction costs were cut. The budget also diverted- 1300,000 in • reserve funds in an effort to keep the • mill rate increase down. The use of reserve funds was possible, said Schmidt, because the money "basically comes , from the $260,000 surplus from last year's budget." Son e of the major components of the budget are $45,391,399 for staff safely and benefits; $5,361,296 for school bus transportation; plant operationand maintenance, $5,556,398; $544,000 for .ad- of $98.25 a year for the average taxpayer. ditional computers; 22,719,073 for school That amount. 13 added to the 1989 base supplies, textbooks and library books., average figure for taxes paid of $565. The budget breaks down into 835,607,896 This year's increase represents. a "very for elementary education and .$25,609,131 modest decrease," from last year's $17.9 for secondary education, per cent mill rate increase, said Schmidt. Schmidt said the staff -benefits include "This is one • of the most difficult a $810,000 cost for the new Employer budgets that we as a board, and as a Health tax, a substantial increase over finance committee, have ever had to • the board's 1989 cost of $383,000 for 011IP work with because of the economic premiumst which the new tax replaces. climate and government cutbacks," said. Schmidt, cited several factors for the David Inglis, board chairman. high budget figures, including. the costs of Paul Martindale, director of education initiating mandatory programs without and board secretary said it was "a provincial funding and an overall reduc- medium to high-risk budget,. as .to tion in provincial grants for the second' whether we have a balanced budget or a year in a row. deficit." • • • lassdepends Legislation mandating reduced c "It on enrobnent," said sizes and lower student/teacher ratios Martindale, adding that Bruce county also contributed to the increase, he said. could easily surpass the projected enrol - Based on an average assessment of ment increase of 50 students at both $25,000, the budget represents an increase secondary. and elementary .levels. History classes"Bruce Countified" CHESLEY—History classes for in- termediate students haCe been "Bruce Countified," as part of a rnajot overhaul of history curriculum for -Grade 7 and 8. Students. Members of the writing committee presented an outline of the new course to the Bruce County Board of education at its May 16 meeting,. The new eurrindum features a section on local history, revolving around a set of slides and pictures obtained frotn the Bruce County Museum, said Doug Pedwell, a member of the writing com- mittee for the Grade 8 curiculum, The package of- slides and photos will be distributed to every intermediate level teacher in the county. . In addition, advanced teaching -strategies will replace the former text book -oriented approach, said Pedwell. - "Today, we're trying to make history courses.far more alive, far more active." In addition to a course outline, teachers are given the option of various methods of - communication the material to students. . "It can be teacher directed, through textbooks, or done with activity centres, or through role-playing," said Pedwell; New evaluation methods have also been introduced with the course. "There will still be tests and so on, but it also ptovides for teacher evaluation, group evaluation and even student self- evaluation. The end result will be that students enjoy history more and more of them will end up taking it when they get to hi school," said Pedwell. The County Town Singers will perform ID Lueknow on hoe 3, the Cetnity town, Singers from Whitby will be performing at the Lucknow United Church, at p.m. The. choir ie Wier the direction of Jim ASisy who is very ably assisted by Evert train, Assistant accompanist for this peek. formence is Donna Pritchard. The prep= entitled "The Beet of Broadway" has many surprises, -in- cluding several choral arrangement* by Mr, Ashley. Featured on the program will be numbers frorn Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, as well as "Don't Cry for Me Argentina". from "Eviti". A medley of tante from "Porgy end Bas" will be welcomed by fans of more tradithund musicale. The Coolly Town Singers are dedicated to commutdtif fund-raising and involve- ' meat. Its members, who came fronl all walks of life, sing for the love of it. They form a versatile mixed . chorus with a repertoire of music which appeals to all ages. The choir was established in 1967 as i Centennial project and has been noted as Canada's Singing Ambassadors as a result of touts to the United States and ,Austria. In 1978 they participated in al tour of Canada's Maritime Provinces to aid in fund-raising for various charities for the disabled and more recently toured 'British Columbia and entertained sl at Ex - Po Plane are underway to celebrate' its silver anniversary in July 1092 with tour'of .the British Isies.,Fund-raising for •this entleaVour has: been added to the choir's already full schedule of rehearsals and performances. Launch date set for Space Walk 2000 Launch date for walk through space!!! Starting on May 25;community residents Will begin a trek through the solar systems as part of Space Walls 2000, a Canada Fitweek project. Aimed at en- couraging those. 50 plus years of age to exercise hearts, bodies, minds and soles, the program will challenge participants to walk collectively a distance equal to that of walking through the entire solar system, by the year 2000 to celebrate .the dawn of a new century. • - ' The trek will start at Pluto, go once past the Earth to the Sun and back to Earth. All distances walked during the next decade's Canada Fitweeks will be counted. ' Space Walk 2000 is one of 12 national projects during Canada's ,Fitweek, May 25 to June 3. The goal for Fitweek 1990 is to walk 932,000 miles, an earthly equivalent of the distance from Pluto to Neptune. - ' Locally The Lucknow Town and Coun- try Seniors are hoping that at least 2000 miles will be logged by Lucknow and District, to improve on last years 1,035 miles. This is a fun event with a leisurely walk around town. Please join us! For further information contact Joan Robin- son, president of the Town and Country Seniors at 528-3739.