The Citizen, 1998-09-09, Page 1Under dreary, rainy skies, secondary and elementary pupils headed back to school Tuesday
mprning, ready for a new year of fun, activities and learning. Robert Lessard of East
Wawanosh Public School disembarked his school bus along with dozens of schoolmates, to
greet friends and teachers after a long, hot summer vacation.
The North Huron
itizen
Lot. 15 No. 35 Wednesday, Sept. 9, 1998 (700 + Se GST) 750
Many new faces at area schools
Sports
Madill wrestler wins gold
at competition in United
States
See page 8
Feature
Blyth grows as
37th Thresher
Reunion arrives
See inside
Community
See page 14
Bus stoplights mean little
to some drivers, say OPP
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen staff
Some surprising results were
released recently from a survey
conducted by school bus drivers in
Huron and Perth Counties.
Senior Const. Don Shropshall,
OPP Community Services Officer
for Huron, said bus drivers had
expressed concern over an increase
in the number of vehicles passing
the school buses while children
were boarding or exiting.
To address this, he said, the
Avon Maitland District School
Board and the Huron Perth
Catholic District School Board
asked their drivers to do a survey
for four days in May. What they
noted was alarming, said Shrop-
shall.
"A total of 52 vehicles over those
four days failed to stop when the
school bus lights were flashing."
Sixteen of these were in the
morning, while 36 were in the
afternoon. Twenty-eight failed to
stop on county or provincial high-
ways; the remainder were in urban
areas.
The Highway Traffic Act states,
"every driver on a highway meeting
or approaching a school bus when
By Victoria Jackson
Clinton News-Record Staff
Public high school students in
Huron and Perth Counties are back
at school, but for how long is
anyone's guess.
Talks between the Avon
Maitland District School Board
(AMDSB) and the teachers' union
broke off last Friday without any
agreement being reached.
Cliff Berry, chair of the
negotiating team for the Ontario
Secondary School Tegchers'
Federation (OSSTF), saidfie hopes
both sides in the dispute will be
back at the table in ,etteylear future.
"I think the board n some time
to think about their approach to
these negotiations," Berry said. "I
think we all need to think about our
approach."
Abby Armstrong, chair of .the
AMDSB, said the board is waiting
to hear from the teachers to set the
next date for negotiations. "We are
one of the lucky boards,"
Armstrong said. "We've always had
a very good relationship with the
unions."
She added that as far as the board
knows, teachers are not doing
Narcotics officers from the
Ontario Provincial Police and the
RCMP located marijuana growing
in a field at the edge of Brussels on
Monday afternoon.
Ground crews working with
the red lights are flashing must stop
20 metres before reaching the bus
and shall not proceed until the bus
moves or the red signal lights stop
flashing."
In the hopes of protecting the
children from this irresponsible
behaviour Shropshall said the
boards are planning to implement a
bus watch program. "Bus drivers
are being asked to note the license
and provide a general description
of any vehicles that do not stop for
the flashing lights and identify the
driver if possible. Charges will be
laid."
"The main focus is to insure the
safety of our children."
Approximately 16,000 Huron
and Perth children use the school
bus daily. "They rely on the drivers
to obey the school bus signals
enabling them to cross the highway
safely to board or exit the bus,"
said Shropshall.
Failure to obey the signals could
result in serious injury or death to a
child, Shropshall said.
He added that the OPP will be
stepping up patrols throughout the
counties and concentrating on sev-
eral targeted problem areas. If
caught drivers face a $315 fine and
the loss of six demerit points.
anything different from any other
day. "It's an extremely positive
situation," she said.
Berry said that for now no action
is being taken by the teachers.
"There will be no interruption to
classes and we promised the board
24 hours notice before any action is
taken. However, teachers are not
taking part-IT-Volunteer activities."
He said a strike action is not out
of the question. "We are in a legal
strike position.
However, he added, "Hopefully
we can settle this before
escalation."
Armstrong said she- hopes no
strike action would be necessary
and that the board wants the best
solution for the students.
Berry said there are many issues
that still need to be addressed.
"The issues in Avon Maitland are
not unlike the issues in other
areas," he said. ''What makes up the
1,250 minutes of instruction as
specified by the ministry needs to
be settled. We haven't reached
agreement on many of the
'substantive monetary issues."
Berry added that teachers are
"showing great restraint in these
early days to ensure students
receive the best education."
spotters are involved presently in a
marijuana eradication program in
south-western Ontario, according to
Sgt. Doug Babbitt of the OPP's
London office.
No further information was avail-
able at press time.
Whether with enthusiasm or trep-
•idation, elementary and secondary
school students headed back to the
classroom Tuesday.
Walton Public School students
welcomed new staff and saw some
familiar faces move into different
roles.
Diana Dolmage is now the secre-
tary; Trina McBride, the library
resource education assistant; Alice
McDowell the principal and Elaine
Haney will teach Grade 3/4.
At Hullett Central Public School
Nancy Pickell will take over the
Grade 6/7 class until Christmas
after which she will go to half time.
Annette teRea will fill a maternity
leave as the resource education
assistant and Sandy Reaman will
teach Grade 7/8. An additional edu-
cation assistant is yet to be hired.
Five new staff members were
greeted at Grey Central Public
School as Cheryl Peach takes over
as principal; Krysta Goodall, Grade
1; Carolyn McKay, Grade 4; Shan-
non Robinson, Grade 7 and Cathy
Goetz will be the resource teacher.
East Wawanosh Public School
students will have two new teach-
ers in the classrooms as Monique
Gallaher teaches kindergarten half
time on Monday and Wednesday
and Rhonda Schafer looks after
Grade 5/6.
There are also several new faces
at Brussels Public School with
Continued on page 2
Strike still looms for schools
Police find pot plot