The Citizen, 1999-05-26, Page 7THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 26, 1999. PAGE 7.
School bd. may cut student trustee number
By Susan Hundertmark
Special to The Citizen
The Avon Maitland District
School Board is looking at
recommendations to cut the
number of student trustees
from 10 to two and limit pub
lic delegations to 10 at one
meeting per month, cutting
their presentation time from
10 minutes to five minutes.
The recommendations
come from an ad hoc commit
tee that is attempting to allow
for more public input.
The number of delegations
in the past “was a thing that
bothered some of us,” Trustee
Donald Brillinger, one of
three trustees on the ad hoc
committee, told the board.
“There are ample opportu
nities for the public to talk to
us, like the telephone. I get
phone calls and I am aware of
problems but I’m not that
slow a learner that I need 12
people to get up and say
exactly the same thing for me
to understand,” he said.
But, Trustee Abby
Armstrong said she was
opposed “to any movement to
School band seeking municipal support
By Susan Hundertmark
____Special to The Citizen
The Seaforth District High
School All-Girls’ Marching
Band is actively seeking
funding from all Huron
County municipalities, busi
nesses and service groups,
say booster club executive
members Shirley Brugger and
Penny Breen.
Breen said the executive is
not hopeful it will receive the
$3,700 it needs from the Avon
Maitland District School
Board since the board passed
a new policy in March requir
ing “co-sponsored groups,”
which were traditionally
funded by the board, to apply
for funding.
A recent letter from board
director Lome Rachlis said
the band should receive a
response about its request for
funding before the end of the
school year in June.
Along with its financial
request, the band is waiting to
hear if the board will continue
to provide free storage space
for instruments at Seaforth
District High School, free
practice space at high schools
in Seaforth and Goderich and
the use of school buses, of
which the band pays for driv
ers’ salaries and fuel.
“Those three things are
limit delegations in any way.”
“We are responsible to the
public and they have a right to
be heard. We don't want to
make it difficult to hear what
the public has to say. If it
takes two hours, it takes two
hours. As elected officials, we
have to take the time to hear
them,” she said.
At its May 11 meeting, the
board passed a recommenda
tion that it meet three times a
month, instead of two, for a
trial period of three months
beginning in October, limit
ing delegations to only the
second meeting of the month.
The first Tuesday of the
month will be used to present
a “theme” topic to be dis
cussed informally, the second
Tuesday of the month to hear
delegations and the fourth
Tuesday of the month to
make final decisions.
A motion changing the time
limit for delegations from 10
to five minutes and limiting
the number of delegations to
10 will be voted on at a future
meeting.
Armstrong said the most
delegations the board has
really important because our
costs are going to be a lot
higher if the board decides
not to provide them,” Brugger
said.
The board recently
informed bandleader Charles
Kalbfleisch that he will no
longer be receiving a wage
from it to run the band. He
had been receiving a wage of
approximately $4,000 a year
to run the band since he
retired in 1991 after teaching
for the former Huron County
Board of Education for 26
years.
“Charlie told us his funding
has been cut but not to worry.
He’ll go on. He’ll do it until
he drops because he loves it,”
Breen said.
Breen says the band has
been receiving some dona
tions from private citizens
since the board passed its new
funding policy but added that
the band needs a commitment
for annual donations to be
able to plan for the future.
“One lady from Goderich
sent us $1,000 saying she
couldn’t believe the board
couldn’t find $3,700 to keep
the band going,” she stated.
“Those sorts of one-time
donations are wonderful but
we need to know our basic
costs are being met every
year.”
Meeting was
productive,
says trustee
seen in one night was 24,
which were reduced to five
minutes each, during the heat
of the school closures issue.
“If we have a meeting when
24 people are that upset to
give up their time to come to
our meeting to speak, then
something is
s e r i o* u s 1 y
wrong and we
need to know
that. The
meeting (with
24 delega
tions) was one
of the most productive couple
of hours this board has
spent,” she said.
Brillinger said that while he
didn’t want to name anyone,
“there are people who have
taken 10 minutes to absolute
ly waste the time of the board
with nonsense.”
Trustee Maggie Laprade,
also a member of the ad hoc
committee, defended the lim
iting of delegations, saying
that the spirit of the recom
mendation was not to deny
anyone the right to be heard.
“In a democracy, we don’t
have to hear from every sin
In order to apply for fund
ing from groups like the
Trillium Foundation, the band
needs to become a non-profit
organization with a charitable
donation number, a process
Breen said could take a cou
ple of years.
She said a service club
could help out by allowing
the band to use its charitable
donation number until the
band has a chance to apply for
one of its own.
“We’ve asked a few service
clubs but we don’t know if
anyone will sponsor us yet.
We’ve been told by the
Trillium Foundation that
allowing us to use their num
ber won’t interfere with their
chances of receiving funding
for other projects,” Breen
said.
Some groups in Goderich
have indicated they may fund
the band if the band changes
its name to the Goderich All
Girls Marching Band, a move
the executive does not want to
make, despite the fact that the
band members come from all
over Huron County.
“Our name is a part of our
history and it’s what we’re
known by throughout North
America. (Bandleader)
Charlie (Kalbfleisch) says
he’s seen more groups fail
after they change their name,”
gle person. Parents can get
together and create a presen
tation. Nowhere in any demo
cratic government do I ever
see presentations made that
are limitless,” she said.
She said she questions “the
accuracy of our hearing” once
the 23rd dele
gation has its
turn.
Student
Trustee Karen
Del’vecchio
countered that
the final dele
gation may have the most
important thing to say.
Armstrong said with only
10 delegations limited to one
meeting a month, members of
the public might not be able
to be heard before a decision
on an issue is reached by the
board.
“If I was a concerned parent
and I wanted to be heard. I’d
make sure I had a standing
place in the 10 delegations
each month and cancel at the
last minute if it turned out I
had nothing to say,” she said.
Delvecchio also told the
board she was very upset at
Breen said.
“The name reflects who we
are. We’re from the middle of
nowhere and we take on kids,
no matter what their limita
tions,” she added.
I
the move to reduce the num
ber of student trustees at
board meetings.
The recommendation,
which was referred back to
the ad hoc committee by the
board, would put two student
trustees at school board meet
ings at the table but set up an
advisory board of 20 students,
some of whom would be
invited to sit on various board
committees.
“The board has grown and I
think student trustees are the
last chance to have someone
here from every community,”
she said.
Student Trustee Erin Doupe
agreed, adding that during
discussions on issues such as
school closures, each area
must be represented since
“it’s not going to mean much
to those two student trustees
if the issue is not dealing with
their schools.”
When Brillinger said a look
at other jurisdictions showed
“we’re really a rarity” with 10
student trustees, Delvecchio
responded, “If all the other
boards jumped off cliffs,
would we too?”
The Seaforth All-Girls band
is planning its annual barbe
cue fundraiser at Harbour
Park in Goderich for June 13.
“We fed 700 people last
year and we’ve already got
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Board Chair Wendy
Anderson, the third ad hoc
committee member, said the
recommendation was made to
enhance, not diminish the
input of students since it
would provide two student
voices, instead of the one cur
rently at the board.
Of the 10 student trustees
who now attend the board
meetings, only one sits at the
board table at a time.
Anderson added that with a
reduced number' of student
trustees, the board would be
able to afford to send them to
conferences, something it
can’t afford to do for 10.
Trustees Vicki Culbert and
Colleen Schenk both dis
agreed with reducing the
number of student trustees.
“I’d like to see it remain as
it is. Student trustees are right
at the school so they know
what’s going on,” said
Culbert.
Schenk added, “All stu
dents grow tremendously
from the experience and it
would be a travesty to change
it.”
people phoning us for tickets
for this year,” says Brugger
added. “This band will con
tinue if it means selling hot
dogs at Zehrs every week
end,” Breen stated.
Summer bus goes one way
By Susan Hundertmark
Special to The Citizen
Secondary school students
taking Summer school courses
will have a ride to school but
not home again under the lat
est transportation plans of the
Avon Maitland District
School Board.
Two bus routes, provincial
ly-funded for Grade 8 stu
dents taking language and
mathematics in summer
school to prepare for the new
Grade 9 curriculum, will also
be open to secondary school
students if there is excess
space on the bus. The
Ministry of Education and
Training will not provide
transportation funding for
secondary summer school.
But, since the Grade 8 class •
ends at 11:30 a.m. and the
secondary class ends at 12:30
p.m., secondary students will
have to find their own way
home, Jim Moore, assistant to
the superintendent of schools,
told the board. Both classes
begin at 8:30 a.m.
He said the elementary
class could be extended an
hour to give the secondary
students transportation home
but said the cost implications
would be additional staffing
costs either for teaching or
supervising the Grade 8 stu
dents.
“And, that’s an awfully
long day for elementary
kids,” he said.
Trustee Abby Armstrong
asked if a recess could be
included for the Grade 8 stu
dents or if parents could pay
for transportation for second
ary students to pay the addi
Continued on page 8
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