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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 1992-04-29, Page 21nt CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29,1992. PAGE 21. HCBE decides to install alarms in all schools BY LISA BOONSTOPPEL-POT Burglars beware! The Huron County Board of Edu- cation (HCBE) has decided to install burglar and fire alarms in all of its 24 elementary and five sec ondary schools at a total cost of $25,000. Local trustee says no to budget BY LISA BOONSTOPPEL-POT When Huron County Board of Education trustee John Jewitt has a goal, he goes after it even if it means standing alone. Mr. Jewitt, the trustee represent ing Blyth and Hullett, was the only trustee at the board's special budget meeting April 21 to vote against accepting a HCBE budget which raises education taxes by 2.1 per cent. "I voted against it because I thought this was the year we had to have a budget with no increase," said Mr. Jewitt. "I knew I was going to be defeated but I had to fight." He was one of many trustees who said at an earlier special budget meeting held April 13 that the bud get should be kept to a zero per cent increase. But he was the only one who was prepared to vote against a motion made by McKillop trustee, Graeme Craig to accept the revised 1992 budget of $60,812,185. "I felt we had to send the mes sage that the days of dipping into the local taxpayers pockets are over," he said. To reach his goal of a zero per cent tax increase, administration would have had to make more expenditure cuts. Cuts had already been made in secondary capital projects (renova tion and reconstruction), elemen tary gratuities and employee salaries and benefits. According to Bob Allan, the Installation will take place as soon as possible and could be com pleted in three months said HCBE's Superintendent of Business and Operations, Paul Carroll. One system has been in place at Victoria P.S. in Goderich for over a year and Mr. Carroll said it proved Director of Education for the board, further cuts would have meant reducing funds for proposed ele mentary capital projects of expan sions at Brookside and Holmesville Public Schools. Apparently, most trustees would rather have a 2.1 per cent tax increase than make these cuts and Mr. Jewitt says he can understand that. "I can understand why the trustees voted to accept the budget because the administration and trustee committees have made a real effort to reduce costs," he said. "But I think we needed to send a message by having a zero per cent increase." What Mr. Jewitt was hoping to cut was not the entire expansion costs at Brookside and Holmesville but rather, re-adjust these costs so they're covered by provincial gov ernment funds rather than munici pal taxes. Mr. Jewitt explains. "When these public schools need more space, we've been building permanent structures instead of putting up portables. However, the government has only been provid ing funding for portables so most of the expansion costs fall on local taxpayer shoulders." In order to reduce taxpayers costs, he suggests the board use the funding to cover the cost of putting up portables. "I know some people are opposed to portables but in view of the pre sent economic situation, I think its effectiveness April 18 when would-be computer thieves were scared off. "Trespassers broke into the win dow of a classroom and activated the silent alarm system which places a direct call to the police," said Mr. Carroll. The culprits had already cut portables could be viewed as acceptable at this time," he said. "I'm not picking on Brookside because they're as much entitled to new space as anyone else but there comes a time when you say to yourself we just can't build as nice a structure as we have other years because the economy won't allow it." Mr. Jewitt also had another idea to reduce costs. "I would have liked to re-open the salary contracts for the adminis tration staff to possibly reduce their salary increases and save taxpayers money," he said. "In my view, there are a lot of things that could be looked at to reduce administration costs, includ ing job-sharing." He was hoping when the trustees themselves rolled back their salaries to 1991 levels earlier this year, administration would have followed suit. "We made our move and I felt administration would also make a move because if they had, I think the teachers may have acted simi larly," he said. These are all items Mr. Jewitt will have to work on for the 1993 budget since the 1992 budget was approved. Mr. Allan said the board is well aware of the economic situation and recognizes that it's been a "dif ficult year." He said the board will be trying to "conserve our resources at every opportunity." through some computer wires when police arrived but were scared off by the authorities. "If they were after computers as the cut wires indicate, that particu lar alarm system has already paid for itself," said Mr. Carroll. Trustees are hoping the alarm systems, which cost approximately $860 per school, will reduce van dalism costs which have signifi cantly increased recently. This past school year alone, the board has suffered an estimated $34,200 in vandalism costs due to nuisance vandalism at Seaforth District High School, F.E. Madill Secondary School and Brookside Public School. In Seaforth, unknown culprits smashed windows and released fire extinguishers inside the building. The same damage was committed at F. E. Madill but the vandals also left a fire hose running, flooding the school floor. Four young men plus one young offender were con victed for this crime and have been ordered to pay restitution. The most costly vandalism took place at Brookside where unknown students went on a major trashing spree, using fire axes to destroy furniture, electronic equipment, books, glass and plaques, said Mr. Carroll. Moreover, the board suffered the loss of $12,000 worth of computers which were stolen from Howick Central P.S. Two Wroxeter men During Arbor Week "plant a little paradise". We have a large selection of perennials, flowering shrubs, ornamental trees, shade trees and evergreens. MAITLAND MANOR NURSERY R.R. #1 Bluevale, Ontario NOG 1G0 Phone (519) 335-3240 or Fax (519) 335-6061 been ordered to pay back the board $5,889 each, it's possible the board will never receive restitution. Besides the obvious vandalism and theft losses which can be reduced with alarm systems, the board is also hoping to obtain sub stantial premium reductions in their insurance costs with the installation of the alarm systems. Mr. Carroll stated the board could save $8,691 on its insurance premiums. These two potential cost savings were what persuaded board trustees to approve the cost in a time of fis cal constraint. "I believe this is money well spent," said Wingham trustee Lil- iane Nolan who made the motion to approve the special project during the board's budget deliberations. The cost was added to the board's 1992 budget estimates which was passed by trustees as a special board estimates meeting held April 21. This is the fourth time the idea of installing alarm systems has been presented to the board. Before, the expense of alarm systems always deterred trustees, said Mr. Carroll. 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