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The Lucknow Sentinel, 1978-04-05, Page 1• Board backs away from volunteers BY JEFF SEIMON The Huron County Board of Education decided Monday not to get involved with the use of volunteers to oversee tutorials for Grade 12 and 13 students out of school because of the current secondary school teacher strike. The board decided to shy away from the volunteers' because of potential liabilities, a small number of qualified volun- teers and the possibility that the volunteers 'could be labelled.strike breakers. John Cochrane, director of education, recommended to the board that the use of volunteers in the schools not be considered. He said that the effort to find the people willing to volunteer may not be wasted since the names of those people will be made available to senior students or parent groups looking to set up study groups. Cochrane told the board that one such group had already been established in Goderich and involved abo 10 volunteers and 40 studen s. He said the groups met twice weekly in the basement of Knox Presbyterian Church in Goderich. The director said the volunteer project was authorized by he and board chairman John Elliott. He said the • two decided to "sample the water and see what the volunteer proposal would be like". He said the subsequent announcement from the board office resulted in 28 names of people with offers that they were willing to help where they could. He said that of the 28 volunteers eight had the necessary academic background to be of any assistance to Grade 13 students. He said that spread over five high schools eight was not many. "When you come right down to brass tacks there were eight that •probably could have been some he LUCKNOW $10 A Year In Advance $14 To U.S.A. and Foreign assistance to Grade '13's," said Cochrane. Cochrane said the small number of qualified volun- teers combined with the possibility that they could be construed as strikebreakers, that they would not be paid, that the education act demanded they not be used more than 10 days and the possibility of legal problems and liabilities prompted him to suggest that the board leave the volunteer program to local groups like the one in Goderich. The director also told the board not "to panic" about lost instructionaltime due to the strike. He said the studentshad not lost too much time thus far since the board had cancelled the mid- term exams and little time had been lost due to winter storms, He said that he knew of two students that went to another education system to study and he was advised that they were not that far behind. "But the clock is running," he warned. "From here on time is important for many of the students. All I'm saying is don't panic." Zurich trustee Herb Turkheim asked why the five secondary school ad- ministrators could not take up some teaching duties CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 SENTINEL WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 1978 Single Copy 25c 32 PAGES Lillian -Young learned to quilt from her husband's mother after her marriage and usually has a quilt up in her living rogm. She likes knitting, as well, and has made crib quilts, socks and mitts for her seven grandchildren. She was once the chairman of the Langside Community Hall Board and was active.Inthe Langside Presbyterian Ladies Aid. Since the hall is no longer there, and the church closed last summer, Lillian is concerned that the community of Langside no longer has an identity. She is trying to keep Langside as a community ill the minds of the people who live there by writing the Langside News Column for the Lucknow Sentinel. The parents ask 1. How many teachers complained of overload in working conditions during the past 2 years? What was the main problem? BOARD: There were no complaints received from teachers regarding working conditions over the last 2 years by the Board or its administration. TEACHERS: It is difficult to calculate the exact number of teachers who complained to principals about working conditions because so many variables apply in the case of any teacher's timetable. However, statistics in . two areas may be revealing: In the 1976-77 period, before any workload clause existed in the agreement, 76 teachers (28 percent) taught 7 periods and would feel unfairly treated considering that 72 percent of the teachers taught 6 periods. Also in that period 58 teachers (21 percent) had excessively high Pupil Period Contacts and would feel unfairly treated since 79 percent had reasonable PPC's. In the periodof the 1977-78 school year 48 teachers (17 percent) worked 7 periods and . 51 teachers (18.6, percent) were over in their PPC's. These teachers naturally felt unfairly treated since their workload was in excess of the guideline figures. Grievances were lodged that year to bring the situation to the attention of the Board. 2. Last year there was an Appeal and- Review Com- mittee. We heard it was inactive. Is this true and why? BOARD: During . the academic year 1976-77 there was an Appeal'- and Review Committee. The Appeal and Review Committee met once. It met to .consider the grievance of a teacher who quit teaching at age 37 and was claiming approximately $10,000 from the Board as <a retirement gratuity. No other problems were referred to it by the teachers. TEACHERS: Following the 1971 mass resignations both parties thought an Appeal and Review committee was necessary to provide a forum for discussion and head off confrontation situations. This, committee worked well from that time until June 1977. The committee had met previously in the 1976-77 CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 Support board's position in dispute By 'a unanimous decision, Huron County Council agreed on Friday to support a resolution from Turnberry Township to support the position of the Huron County. Board of Education in its current dispute. with the secondary school teachers. The Turnberry resolution noted that in the past, the Huron board had been criticised for its spending practices. The resolution went on to say that since the board now appears to "desire to curtail their spending", it is important that the county municipalities support board members. Bayfield Reeve Ed Oddleifson said, "We are all concerned about what is occurring. We all feel that. some solution could be arrived at. There does appear to be some irresponsibility somewhere. I'm not saying where." According to Oddleif- son, the resolution was ap- proved by council to "assist" negotiations. Warden Getry Ginn said the people have known for sometime that a "stand has to be taken when people want more and do less". "This is a new era," said the warden. "Changes are going to have to be made. I strongly commend the board. It is a difficult but necessary stand." Board chairman R.J. Elliott was present at the afternoon session of county council, along with trustee -John Henderson. Elliott declined to comment on the situation when invited by county council to speak.