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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1978-02-15, Page 8.1" la " Page 8—Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 1978 The election of officers for the Lucknow District Co-operative Board. of Directors was conducted at the board's first meeting of this year. They include, front row, left to right, Nelson Hill, manager; Doug Martyn, vice-president; Doug Cameron, president; and Bill Scott, secretary. Back rown, left to right, are, committee members, Leo Murray, Finance Committee and Scales Committee; Austin Martin, past 'president; Bill Andrew,. Jr., Property Committee; Bob Irwin, Inventory. Committee; Albert Taylor, Finance Committee and Inventory COmmittee and Merle Gunby, Scales Committee. "Diviners" still concerns parents BY JEFF S EDDON The Diviners is back haunting trustees of the Huron County. Board of Education. The board learned Monday that several com- blaints over the Canadian novel by -Margaret Laurence have been made by parents of senior students in the Huron county system. Clinton Trustee Dorothy Wallace asked the board when trustees would have an opportunity to decide if the novel is acceptable for English literature instructiort in county secondary schools. She said she had received a complaint from a parent who found the book stuffed under her child's mattress along with cdpies of Penthouseand • Playboy. Education director John. Cochrane told the board that he had received • similar complaints about novels being used in English programs. He said the con- troversy last summer about the novels used in classes was still a topic° of concern t( some parents. Cochrane saie the novel is a board approved book for ,use in senior secondary school English classes. Superintendent of education 'Jim Coulter told the board that the novel had been approved by the board in August and that the board would get, an opportunity to review the situation this summer. He said a list of instructional books will be brought to the board 'in August of 1978 for approval for use in the new school year. Williams said the student who had the book hidden under the mattress was a Grade 12 male. She said she advised the parent to take the matter to the director of education and was merely bringing -the matter to the board to find out when and how the board could act on the subject of novels opposed by parents. Board concerned CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 pen less frequently," said Kin- cardine and Bruce Township and Tiverton trustee Alan Dent. _ Mr. Dent said he noticed the OPP in his area were patrolling the roads when the school buses were running and consequently cut down the improper passing problem. He asked if other trustees had noticed the same thing in their areas. No one else had. Huron Board of Education, concerned Motorists motoristsignorant of bus laws BY JEFF SEDDON The Huron County Board of Education supported a petition Monday to have the province of Ontario adopt "more emphatic and continuous educational ad- vertising" with regard to motor- ists passing stopped school bus- es. The board endorsed a petition circulated by the Dufferin-Peel . Separate School board asking that some positive steps be taken to ensure the safety of school chilciren,ridhig buses. The Dufferin Board circulated the petition after -a driver in that board's area ignored the flashing, lights oft stopped school bus and caused the board's first fatality relating to school bus transporta- tion. The DufferinBoard survey- ed itk bus , drivers after they incident and discovered motorists ignore the stopped school bus law at an alarming rate on a daily basis The Huron Board endorsed the petition but did not agree to circulate the petition amongst its drivers. The survey asked how often other vehicles pass a bus when the flashing lights are operating. It asked if there was a specific location that was a prob- lem anq if it was possible for thp driver tb recognize the vehicle, driver and licence number.kalso asked if the drivers pass from the rear of the vehicle or the front. Ralph Buffinga, a Blyth area school bus operator who has six vehicles under contract to. the Huron Board, told the board that his drivers complain regularly that motorists ignore. the flashing lights. He said he couldn't give the board any figures but said it is a daily problem and occurs most often on paved county roads or provincial highways. Buffinga said the driver has his hands tied when he witnesses a motorist passing his stopped bus. He said the police must be there to witness the crime in order for the motorist to be charged. Be added that he felt the driver should be able to write down the license number of the vehicle and give it to police to , handle accordingly. tuffifiga explained that bus drivers normally check traffic in front of and behind the stopped bus before opening the door to discharge children. He said if a vehicle is approaching and appears to have no intention of stopping the driver will wait until it has passed before opening the bus door. Once the children are out4of the bus the driver usually checks traffic to ensure it is safe for the children to cross the road and then signals them to go ahead. The survey done by the Dufferin Board indicated that the board's 120 buses are being passed 227 times daily. Most of the passings occur in the morning (96 percent) when students are loading on the same side of the streets as the bus pick-up. The board felt that.if students had to cross traffic in the morning the board's record would be much worse than it is. Indications are that police forces are doing their utmost to prevent accidents involving mot- orists ignoring Stopped buses but simply can't patrol the hundred of miles of bus routes travelled daily by the board operated buses.r. "I think we should let Queen's Park provide the answer. We know there .is problem but I don't think we should tell the Ministry of Transportation and Communications how to handle it," Trustee George Loucks said. "If there is something physical- ly wrong with me I go to the doctor and tell him my problem, I don't tell him what to do," Mr. Loucks said. In other road business, mem- bers of the finance committee were announced by the striking committee. In past -years, the board has had the vice-chairman and two trustees as members of the , finance committee. Due to the size of the board and the increasing scope of the finance committee, the board passed a motion to •add two new members to the committee.. Members of the finance com- mittee- for 1978 are board vice-chairman Albert Smith, Kin- cardine trustee Tom Lamber, Roy Weifei, Ron Gatis and Doug Kreutzweiser. The advisory committee for the school for the trainable retarded was also announced. Trustees on the advisory committee are Jac- queline Clements, Tiverton, and Briice and Kincardine Townships, Lloyd Liesmer and Gerald Jettle. The finance committee will be investigating the need of engag- ing a transportation field officer, to replace the late John Bonnett of Kincardine who was hired by the board as a +professional consultant in school bus transpor- tation. The ad hoc building committee for Huron Heights public school selected Tom Lambert as ehair- man. Trustees Les Able and George Loucks will also serve on that committee. • Former Reeve CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Ronald Alton, Alex Andrew, Harvey Webster, Fraser MacKin- non, Stuart Collyer. Honorary pallbearers were A. E. McKim, Allister Hughes,' W. A. Porteous, Dr. J. E. Little; Gordon Montgomery, Andrew Ritchie. Temporary entombment follow- ed in South Kinloss Mausoleum, with burial in Greenhill Cemet- ery. Funeral arrangements were in charge of the MacKenzie and McCreath Funeral Home. Trustees. agree... CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 years. . Elliott• said board ern -. ployees or people using their own vehicle for board business received 19c per mile as :a result of the in- creaSec passed by . the board recently. He said the proposed rate of " 21.7c per mile would be given trustees, board employees and authorized members of the public using their cars on board business. Elliott said the executive committee felt that since costs for operating a vehicle were up considerably and the new rate was being used by other county 'officers (county councillors- and officials) the increase was reasonable and justified. He added that the new rate was- the same for both trustees. and employees which was not the case under the -old system. John Henderson, trustee from Seaforth, asked Elliott why the new rate represented such a large increase. He said the present rate was 15c per mile and he always felt it was designed to cover costs trustees had to drive sotnewhere on board business. "It doesn't cost 21c a mile to drive a car," he said. "It depends on what kind of car you drive," countered Elliott. , Colborne Township Trustee Shirley Hazlitt said she didn't dispute an increase for board employees but felt' that the trustee rate was too 'much. She saki she failed to see -why trustees needed 21c per mile adding that it was con- siderably more than the rate paid to County councillors. "I would dispute that we are paid- more than county councillors," said Elliott. "If we (trustees) were paid on a per meeting rate as they are rather than a straight monthly rate 1 don't feel we're better off than them." "That might be a point of contention," argued Hazlitt. Henderson asked why the board committee, if it was concerned about simplicity by making the rate the same for employees and trustees, ftlade the new mileage rate 21.7c per mile.. • "Why not 'make it an even 22c for easy figuring?" he as. Elliott said by using the higher figure the board may come under some undue criticism.