Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1994-11-09, Page 3Little support garnered for cutting trustees A proposal to cut the Bruce County Board of Education by as many as three members didn't get much support from trustees at their November meeting, last Tuesday. The province. is urging school boards to amalgamate or reduce - size as a cost-cutting measure but Bruce County trustees say they are already covering enough area and can't take on more without chang- ing the nature of their jobs. Operations Committee Chair Frank Eagleson tabled three options for the next board to implement in 1997 but said he was not recom- mending any option in particular. One would leave the number of trustees at the current 14, with one representative from Saugeen 'First Nations. The other two would cut the num- ber of trustees by one or three through redistribution of existing territories. . The proposals weren't well received. "I'm still not convinced we should be downsizing," said Vice Chair Don Stobo, echoing.comments from many other .trustees that eliminating trustees from small boards will not save the province much money. Bruce board trustees earn about $7,000 a year in pay and another $1,500 in expenses. ' Stobo pointed out that one redis- tribution plan would have a single trustee covering the area from Culross to Chesley, a distance that takes an hour to drive. "1 don't think a trustee could be approachable or accountable if they lived a one hour drive away. The role would have to change a lot," he said. Trustee Jennifer Yenssen agreed that spreading trustees over bigger territories would• result in fewer visits to the schools. "We have to •look at our geogra- phy. This isn't a full-time job." Trustee Don Tedford suggested that cutting bureaucracy is a better way to "do more for less." Director of Education Paul Martindale noted that the province is now sending a "confused message" about whether it is encouraging fewer trustees or fewer boards. • Martindale suggested the board wait until the province clarifies its intentions before it makes. a deci- sion. Retiring trustee Gord Thompson warned trustees that they might be wise to consider making cuts before the province does it for them. Thompson agreed that Bruce County is a special case because of its long distances but reminded the board that the province has not recognized special circumstances in the past. "Just remember how they distin— guished Bruce County in the whole junior kindergarten debate. We'got treated just the same as everyone else," Thompson said. BARRY W. REID B.A." CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT P.O. BOX 300 • WINGHAM, ONT. NOG 2W0 • WINGHAM }(INCARDIK 306 Josephine St. 357-1522 • 357-1551 (Fa)c) 1-396-7977 • Auditing • Accounting • Tax Services RUSS TAYLOR C.A. • .. KEITH RAYMOND C.G.A. BARRY REID, C.A: New Ontario Minimum Wage Regulations These are the new minimum wage rates. The new rates take effect at the beginning of the work week that includes January 1, 1995. General hourly rate ,(including, domestic and harvest worker(s) Homeworker hourly rate Student hourly rate (under 18 years) Liquor server hourly rate Hunting/fishing guides daily rate - for five (5) hours or more in a day 168.50 (67.00) . - for Tess than five (5) hours 34.25 (33.50) • Maximum room • and meat allowances in calculating the minimum wage, applicable to general workers at the beginning of the workweek that includes January. 1, 1995. New Bala Hata $ 6.85 (6.70) $ 7.54 (7.37) $ 6.40 (6.25) $ 5.95 (5.80) Room (weekly) - private - non -private or shared Meals - each meal $ 2.55 - weekly maximum 53.55 Rooms & Meals (weekly) - with private room $ 85.25 (83.50) - with non -private or shared. room 69.40 (68.00) Harvest llllorker_s. (only) • weekly housing - serviced maximum $ 99.35 (97.15) - unserviced maximum 73.30 (71.70) For more information, contact your local Ministry of Labour office. ■ Ontario $ 31.70 (31.00) 15.85 (15.50) (2.50) (52.50) Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, November 9, 1994 - Page 3 Girls read and write more than boys. By Pat Halpin While Bruce County students scored "very close to provincial results" in last year's test of Grade 9 reading and writing skills, Super- intendent David Armstrong drew trustees' attention to some gender distinctions' that concern him at the Bruce County Board of Education's meeting Tuesday, Nov. 1. Overall, Armstrong said the county's students "stack up favorably against the province." Those results indicate that 89 per cern of students taking the test scored at or above an "adequate" level of reading skill, while 91 per cent ranked at that level in.writing. The board was also close to prov- incial results with 40 per cent of students testing "competent" in writing, eight per cent scoring "pro- ficient" in reading and 13 per cent ranking at that level in writing. The description of those levels and numbering them three, four and five, is part of the provincial test and all three are counted as the expected levels for Grade 9 stu- dents. Armstrong's concern is that an analysis of results by gender shows that boys are not doing as well as girls. Overall, girls scored higher in both the reading and writing por- tions of the test, edging the boys by as much as 10 per cent. And he said the clues to those results are in, the 'student questionnaires that arc part of the test. Those results indicate that girls read more and spend more time writing than boys do. "The most telling factor is that .twice as many girls enjoy reading," Armstrong said, pointing to figures showing 48 per cent of girls picked the response, "1..like to read very much" compared to just 24 per cent of the boys. On the' other hand, 12 per cent of boys reported that they don't like to read at all. That is three times the number of girls who chose that answer. Armstrong said the information will be used 'to help the board and teachers find ways to get boys more interested in literacy, while making sure. girls 'retain their successful standing. The topic was a serious one but sports fans and reading buffs couldn't resist the opportunity to poke fun at each others' preferred pastimes. "Perhaps we should close down our hockey rinks, Mr. Eagleson?" Armstrong suggested tongue-in-cheek as he noted the relatively small amount of time boys report reading and writing outside of class. That was met with the rejoinder from trustee Gord Thompson that "the girls are lying" when they report on how much they like to read. Several trustees laughed and chided Thompson for his joking remark. Board of education reps will sit on 911 committee Two staff and a trustee from the Bruce County Board of Education will sit on the technical committee that Bruce County Council has established to: help set up a 911 emergency service. Trustees were told the county -wide mapping system that will be pan of the 911 service will help the board improve its bussing system at its meeting Tuesday, Nov. 1. "We've been attempting a com- puterized transportation system," said Business Superintendent Ken Mann. ;'The problem is the lack of an up-to-date mapping system. The trustee member of the 911 technical committee will be appointed after the municipal elec- tion. We've Moved To Our New Location 608 Campbell Street,, Lucknow (formerly Sewing Box) ...So we're having a Moving Sale November 9t" to 19t" We also handle ... • Audiovox • Goldstar • Nintendo and Gameboy • Sherwood • Kirby Vacuums Ultimate Sound electronics Repairs Sales Installations 608 C004)6.1115! lui.know Onium IIUI, 2110 528-2601