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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1978-03-15, Page 8Page 8—Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, March 15, 1978 Ian Finlayson, Huron Township and Bev Brown, Wingham, of the energy Conservation Centre stand in front of the Lucknow office, on ',Campbell Street beside the Sentinel office. The centre will officially open on March 22 and office hours will be on Wednesday and Saturday from 9 - 5 p.m. and Thursday and Friday from 9 - 9 p.m. West Wawanosh council Wit Wawanosh Township Council met for its March session on Tuesday afternoon, March 7th:. All members attended, with Reeve: Lyons presiding. Frank F. Thompson of West Wawanosh Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and Dave Reed of Frank Cowan. Company Limited, attended the meeting and the Corporation's insurance coverage was reviewed with Council by Mr. Reed. Increases on automobile liability and grader replacentent were authorized as well as coverage on the ,,two-way com- munications 'system., Eight owners on the Murray Drainage . Works discussed the condition of the drain ,with Council, and also the extent to which a cleanout should ' be undertaken. It was agreed by all present that a dragline be hired to clean out the ditch from Lot 16, concession 8. The condition of the Foran Drainage Works was brought up, and the Drainage Superintendent was requested to 'inspect it to determine what repair is required. . A request for repair to'the Reid Drain was received from Jan Bos, ar.d Council requested the Drain-; age Superintendent to inspect this drain as well. Motion by Councillprs Hickey and Cranston gave third reading and finally passed by-law #4, 1978, authorizing. the Township to enter into an agreement with Ontario Hydro to provide lighting for the streets of Auburn, and authorizing the Reeve,' and Clerk to execute the contract on 'behalf of the Township. The Cler was authorized', on a motion by Councillors Foran and Stothers, ,to contact E. H. Uderstadt Inc., to request his services' in preparing 'a report for the repair of . the Anderson Drainage Works, . Ashfield and West Wawanosh Townships. A motion by Cauncillors Foran and Stothers authorized the Clerk co inform the Assessment Office to include Polling Subdivision #5 with Polling Subdivision #4; and Polling Subdivision #6 with Pol- ling Subdivision #3 - thus reducing the number of polling subdivisions ,in the Township from six to four. Four applications received for a person to count dogs in the Township were opened, read and discussed. The application of J. ° D. Durnin, R. R. 2, Lucknow, at $1.90 per dog, was accepted on a motion by Councillors Stothers and Cranston. By-law #5, 1978, altering the amount of Dog Tax to be collected, was given third reading and finally passed on motion of Councillors Stothers and Hickey. This by-law provides for the following rates: $5.00 per first male or spayed female - $7.00 for second; $8.00 for first female and $12.00 for the second. A motion by Councillors Hickey and Foran authorized the Road Superintendent to advertise for tenders for the crushing and application of approximately 12,000 cu. yds. of "A" gravel, and approximately 1,000 cu. yds. stockpiled, in three local papers for two weeks. 4.. Four applications for tile drain- age loans totalling $26,400 were accepted by Council on . motion -of Councillors' Foran .and Hickey. At the request of one of the Lucknow Lions Club members, Council discussed possible rental rates for the new Community Centre in Lucknow. A resolution from the Town of Markam regarding the proposed Act to provide for Licensing of Business by • municipalities, was tabled. • Road accountstotalling $3,798- .35 and general accounts totalling t, $25,466.75 were passed for pay- ment Council adjourned to April 4, 1978 at 7.00 p.m. Boarcimakes another proposal Wait for teachers' reply BY MARIAN ZINN A number of people in this area: ' have asked me to write and inform the public and taxpayer why our high school students in Huron County are out of school and the teachers on strike. I can only state the facts which are relevant to. , the , collective agreement while neogitations are still going on (as I write this column the Teacher Negotiating Committee, comprised of 5 teach- ers and the Board Negotiating Plant Power brings students Staffing guidelines for Bruce County schools are adequate, according to the Bruce County Board of Education meeting Tuesday. A motion was passed saying guidelines determining; the acad- emic staff requirement for "the 1978-79 School', year remain'the same as for the past yea. ; ;eXcept for two changes. The director is authoried to make minor adjustments ,to teacher -pupil ratios (PTR) in individual secondary schools in consultation with the principals concerned, providing the PTR for the county is unchanged, reads the motion. The second part of that motion said the formula to determine time available to the elementary school principal, not under a supervising principal, for admin- istration and supervision shall be a basic one day plus a half day for every two occupied classrooms. Director of Education Jack Bowers said, in regards to part. one of that motion, projected enrolments for Kincardine Dist- rict Secondary School and Saug- een District Secondary School in Port Elgin have grown due to the Bruce Nuclear. Power Develop- ment while Walkerton District Secondary School enrolment has decreased due to the building of the separate high school. Sacred Heart. "These three schools are likely to be effected by the first part of the motion," he said. Presently, the PTR at KDSS is 17.6 pupils to one teacher while the PTR at Saugeen Is 17.9 pupils per teacher. The Walkerton PTR is 18.3 per teacher. Pupil -teacher ratios arenot in the secondary school teachers' contracts and d are a matter between the principals and the board. In relation to the second part of the motion, regarding elementary school principals' allotted time for administration, duties, Mr. Bow- ers said last year principals only ha a half day plus half a day per tvy' occupied classrooms per wed r, did not allow principals off ete nientary schools enough their administrative duties They . have more paper work now than they had before," said Bowers. The sap is running...... CONTINI7ED, FROM PAGE 1 he and his wife, Susanne, have been boiling sap. , Susanne was raised in the city but has adjusted well to country life and comments that "when you get married, you get inttated ;into a lot." Committee, comprised of 5 trust- ees, are in session - Monday afternoon, March 13th. However I would be pleased to have anyone call me or visit me so that we discuss opinions privately. For public information, 1 have a son in the 'graduating class at F. E. ,Madill Secondary School, Wingham and it might be of interest too, that the; chairman of our Board' Negotiating Committee has 3 daughters (triplets) in Grade 1a at Goderich District Collegiate Institute, so there are some of us who would like to see our children back in the class- room. The teachers are not on strike ° • ecause of Salary - this was settled some time ago, but they are on strike because of 2 clauses in the Agreement - one that the Board wishes to delete and the , other one Sick Leave Credit Gratuity ' - the wording to be changed. As I mentioned before, the salary grid was settled, giving the - secondary teacher for 1977-78 year, a raise of • 7.5% which includes the increment (one more year of teaching experience). A beginning teacher with a degree will receive $11,500 and a teacher with more than 10 years of experience , and the highest category would receive $25,500, making the average salary $23,200, which includes allow- ances for department heads, commercial directors and technic- al directors. Over and above this, the Board pays 100% of O.H.I.P. premiums for semi -private cover- age (single or family coverage which ever is requested by the teacher); 100% of the premium on thebest drug plan available. In dollars, this means . around $468 per teacher as well as approxi- mately another $300 for statu- atory payments such as C.P.P., Unemployment Insurance and Workmen's Compensation which every employer in the Province must pay. With the increase of O.H.I.P. premiums last week, this means the Board will be paying another $88,000 more - $34,600 ($126.27 per teacher more) in the Second- ary School Panel and as the Board will be over and above the grant ceiling in this panel there will be no grant - the County taxpayer will be paying , the whole 100% which amounts to another 1,4 mill. Besides Leaves . of Absence, Special Leaves, Staff Improve- ment Plan, there is also a Seniority Clause. This clause states that should a teacher who is declared surplusand no job available, shall be declared "supernumeracy" 'and assigned to a central supply pool for one year with salary. The maximum number to be carried in the central pool shall not exceed 5 teachers. Teachers in excess shall have their contract terminated at the end of the current school year. The following is the clause under dispute. In the 1976-77 contract was the following work- load orkload clause - "The Board shall endeavour to achieve the follow- ing guidelines: The .Maximum Period Contract (number of students a teacher teaches in one day); Advanced (most 5 year courses) 180 students; General and Open (4 year courses) 155 students; Technical Subjects and Home Ec. 140 students; Special Education Courses 100 students and (b) no teacher's average class size shall exceed the following guidelines: Advanced (5 year courses) 30 students; General' and Open (4 year courses) 25 :students; Tech- nical Subjects and Home Ec. 20 students; Special Education Cour- ses (Occupational) 15 students and (c) that the Board shall endeavour to have the maximum teaching timetable load for a teacher not to exceed e periods a day (40 minutes a period 'x 6 240 minutes or,4 hours a day) and the remainder of the periods (2) on a teacher's timetable shall be designated as administration or preparation and. marking. Teach- ers also assist students in extra curricular activities. • For general information, the average class size in the County for 1977-78 for the following subjects are as follows: English 24.2; Math 24.1; History 23.8; Science 24.4; Georgraphy 24.2; French 23.6; Commercial subjects 24.7; Physical Education 22.4; Technical subjects' 17:6; Home Economics 18.7; and Latin 15.7. The Board wants to delete and replace the above workload clause with the following: "The Board, its administration and principals in consultation with a Liaison Committee to be set up (made up of 3 teachers and 3 Board members) and who will endeav- our to achieve the most equitable distribution of )the workload subject to the provisions in the County Pupil -Teacher Ratio which shall range between 16-8 and 17.2 to 1. At present the P.T:R. • is 17.01 (number of secondary students 4,651 divided by number of teachers 274 is equal to 17.01. The second article under dis- pute, is the Gratuity Plan (Sick Leave Credit Gratuity). The Board wishes to amend ,the. following clause, '(insertion in capital letters): A Branch Affiliate Member (teacher) who has com- pleted 12 years' service in Huron County, WHO HAS ATTAINED AGE FIFTY, and who is eligible for a pension under the provisions of the Teachers' Superannuation Act, shall be entitled to the payment of a gratuity on termina- tion,of employment. This gratuity is calculated on the number of unused accumulated sick leave credit days_and the final rate of salary at the time of separation from the Board, which could amount to one half of a year's salary. . Mention has been made in the press, on radio and TV as to why the Board has not . brought in an outside arbitrator to settle the dispute. The Board feels that an arbitrator is not accountable to the taxpayer in the County, would not have to pay the taxes in this County and tradition has been that an arbitrator will bend to the employees. The Board wants its principals and vice principals to be able to administer without unworkable clauses in a contract. The whole dispute boils down to one sentence - "The Board wants the. right to manage; the teachers want job security". In conclusion, I would like to quote the words of another Board member at a ratepayers' meeting last week, in Goderich. "It is a 'sad thing' that it took the current labour dispute to show the two sides how much, they need to communicate to run the system effectively: I °think maybe the Board has to do more to keep in touch with its teachers". Those who read my column in this paper in January "On Communication" will know what I meant by communication with one another and trusting one another. Tuesday a.m. The Board's negotiating team made an alter- nate proposal to the teachers' negotiating committee yesterday afternoon, but a reply has not been; received.