The Citizen, 2019-04-25, Page 27THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2019. PAGE 27.
Meeting now set
for Cultural Plan
The Huron arts, culture and
heritage community is looking to
piggyback onto the county’s
strategic plan process, developing a
cultural plan for the future.
Huron County Cultural
Development Officer Rick
Sickinger is hosting a special input
session for the new cultural plan at
Memorial Hall in Blyth on
Wednesday, May 15.
The session runs 5:30-8:30 p.m.
and refreshments will be provided.
While there is no cost to attend,
Sickinger asks that those who plan
to be there RSVP with him either at
rsickinger@huroncounty.ca or by
phone at 519-482-5457, extension
2730.
In an interview with The Citizen,
Sickinger said that with the five-
year review of the county’s strategic
planning process, it only made sense
to revisit its cultural plan at the same
time.
He said that night he hopes to
discuss not only what the county has
accomplished in the areas of arts,
culture and heritage in the last four
years, but look ahead to what it
hopes to accomplish in the years to
come.
That session, he said, will only be
the beginning. The following day,
all of the discussion and
recommendations made will be
brought to Huron County staff and
discussed further in an official
capacity.
Sickinger said that while he and
other staff members have reached
out to stakeholders in Huron
County’s cultural sector, he is
hoping that anyone with a keen
interest in the arts, heritage or
cultural sectors of Huron County
will consider attending and having
their say.
For more information or to RSVP,
contact Sickinger by e-mail at
rsickinger@huroncounty.ca or by
phone at 519-482-5457, extension
2730.
REPRINTS
OF PHOTOS
taken by Citizen
photographers are
available to purchase.
ALL ARE IN COLOUR
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519-523-4792
or 519-887-9114
Toe-tappin’
The Wingham Legion played host to the Old Tyme Jamboree music night earlier this month.
Among the acts performing were, from left: Murray Smith, June Lowry and Laverne Ferguson.
(Mark Nonkes photo)
While a higher-than-normal
number of Avon Maitland District
School Board (AMDSB) secondary
teachers received redundancy
notices this year, an unknown
number may still come back for the
2019/2020 school year.
Redundancy notices are issued
every year in March or April,
according to Board of Trustees Chair
Colleen Schenk. She said that the 69
redundancies issued locally are
more concerning than previous years
because the education reforms
implemented by the provincial
government haven’t yet been fully
detailed.
“What’s unknown at this
particular time, because we don’t
have our full budget in place, is
whether we will be able to call back
these teachers,” she said. “It’s
normal to have redundancies at this
point in the year. However, under
former governments, we’ve been
able to call them back. It’s only fair
to issue them now so that teachers
can apply to transfer to other boards,
or other places in this board.”
Schenk explained that reforms like
changing class sizes and the
reduction of certain funding will
have an impact on the Avon
Maitland District School Board’s
budget, but without concrete
numbers, there isn’t much that can
be confirmed.
“A lot of the time, there is hope
they will all be called back,” she
said. “That would be a difficult
proposition this year, with small
boards and the changing class sizes
looming.”
Schenk said that, if larger class
sizes did have an impact for the
AMDSB, it would manifest as
reduced class offerings.
“We won’t be able to offer the
breadth of the programs we have
been able to,” she said. “It’s been
difficult in the past, but with these
changes, core subjects may not
always be available every semester.”
Schenk pointed to the applied and
academic math classes, two different
streams of arithmetic taught with
different foci. She said that, in a
smaller high school, Grade 12
academic math may not be available
every semester because there may
not be enough students to justify
running the program. She said those
kinds of instances may become more
commonplace in the future.
“Students may have to wait for a
different semester or a different
year,” she said.
She said that, until later this year,
when provincial funding is dictated
and the school board sets their
budget, comments about whether
teachers will come back or not can’t
really be made.
“When we see that budget, we will
see what we’re up against,” she said.
“We hope we can hire many of those
teachers back.”
Paul Langis, Superintendent of
Education - Human Resource
Services for the board, said that 69
of the approximately 400 teachers
being laid off is a higher number, but
echoed Schenk, saying he couldn’t
comment further until a final budget
is in place.
“It’s hard to predict,” he said. “it’s
hard to answer questions about that.”
Langis explained that redundancy
notifications in the AMDSB are
right now being heavily influenced
by the declining enrolment across
the board. He said that, with fewer
students across the board, fewer
teachers are needed.
“The less-senior teachers are
receiving these notifications,” he
explained.
He said that the situation in this
area is different than many others,
especially when it comes to class
sizes. Langis explained that, while
the Ministry of Education has set a
an average of a 28:1 student-to-
teacher ratio, the language in
collective agreements for the
AMDSB is actually bound to a
smaller ratio.
He said that the current agreement
is based on approximately 22:1
funding, so that’s what the board
needs to follow.
“Every board isn’t the same,” he
said. “Their language may be
different in their collective
agreements, so they may be facing
larger average class sizes.
At the AMDSB, however, until a
new contract is negotiated, the
funding and class size is based at the
22:1 agreement, Langis said.
“The redundancies are tied to the
budget, and to the Local Priority
Funding not being renewed by the
provincial government,” he said.
“But they are also tied to declining
enrolment and that’s what we’re
dealing with right now.”
Local redundancies may not be permanent
Funeral Planning
Workshop
Everyone Welcome
401 Albert St., Brussels
at
Wednesday, May 8th
from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Pre-arranging your funeral services can have a
significantly positive effect on your family. It reduces
stress and worry during an emotional time. Find
comfort in knowing your wishes are taken care of.
Learn about all your options in this no obligation, free
discussion surrounding common myths and questions
about funeral services.
For more information please call
519-887-6336
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Past for the future
The Repository of Blyth History, the cumulative work of
Brock Vodden, right, and his late wife Janis, moved out of
Brock’s apartment earlier this week and into a building that
the collection shares with North Huron Publishing and The
Citizen. The move was accomplished with the help of the
Sparling family, including Reece, left, and Sam, centre and
David, not shown. (Denny Scott photo)
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