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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2001-12-05, Page 1e Citizen 11.11.1111111111.111 2iisdadBrussels and northern Huron County Volume 17 No. 48 Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2001 75 Cents (70c + 5c GST) I NORTH HURON PUBLISHING COMPANY INC County enters school debate By Keith Roulston Citizen publisher Pg. 2 Pg. 3 Pg. 9 new businesses Pg. 24 Blyth Scouts get national award Inside this week Optimists donate to Bureau Blyth skaters pass tests Blyth, Brussels get Blyth to get mini-Pg. h, museums Santa stops in Blyth Friday After a successful visit in Brussels last Saturday, Santa Claus is making his annual stop in Blyth this weekend. Friday night, St. Nick will be the guest of honour for the parade which will begin at 7 p.m. The route starts at Howson's on Westmoreland Street, travels down London Road to Wellington, where it turns right to the arena. Following the parade Santa will be at the arena where there is also free family skating from 8-10 p.m. People are reminded that there will be a collection of items for the Food Bank during the parade. Also that evening, from 5:30 -7 p.m. local businesses are sponsoring the Chili Cook-Off at Blyth Memorial Hall. For a toonie, you can sample the chili and pick your favourite. Huron County councillors waded into the debate over school closings at their Nov. 29 meeting, calling on both the district school board and the province to rethink the situation. The two motions followed a lengthy debate precipitated by a motion by Huron East Councillor Bernie MacLellan who asked that a letter be sent to the Avon Maitland District Board of Education calling for no school closures at all. At public meetings school officials could provide no numbers to show there would be savings by closing any particular school, he said. Until they can' provide figures suggesting savings they shouldn't close schools. But others suggested the situation wasn't so simple. "I don't know enough (about the funding issue) — just what I read in the paper," said Carol Mitchell, Central Huron councillor. She asked that Avon Maitland Chair Wendy Anderson be invited to speak to the next committee of the whole meeting and any motion be put off until then. But Huron East Councillor Lin Steffler pointed out the committee meeting will come after the Dec. 11 date for deciding which schools will be closed and urged councillors to act in the meantime. "You can't solve the funding issue before Dec. 11," she said. Concerns over the funding system for school tying the hands of the school board led to an amendment to also petition the province for more adequate financing of schools. Eventually the motion was broken into two separate motions. One calls on the school board to "try" to avoid Continued on page 6 A cuddle with Ho Ho Little ones delighted in their visit with Santa, enjoying a cuddle and sharing the odd secret. St. Nick passed out treats at the Legion following the annual parade in Brussels on Saturday. (Vicky Bremner photo) `Here we go again,' Seaforth parent tells board By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen Seaforth District High School (SDHS) school council chair Maureen Agar began by stating it was her 63rd presentation before the Avon Maitland District School Board. And Lisa Campbell, -representative for Seaforth Public School, started her presentation by saying, "here we go again." So began the Seaforth plbrtion of a "special meeting Wednesday, Nov. 28, to allow for presentations from schools which could face potential changes in the board's current accommodation review. Campbell and Agar appeared one after the other, sandwiched between - presentations from several other schools in the northern portion of the board's temtory. Before beginning her formal praentation, Campbell asked for "clarification" about what could happen. Recommendations from a recent Avon Maitland staff report lists only "program change" for-the elementary school, although the body of the report states the current. Seaforth Public School building would be closed and the students moved to the building currently occupied by the high school. This is the same scenario suggested two years ago, when SDHS was approved for closure but eventually was ,saved by a community group's successful legal challenge. This time, Grade 9 students from Seaforth could also be included in the relocated elementary school, before moving to Central Huron Secondary School in Clinton for Grade 10. Campbell asserted, howeVer, that she had been told by a board official that she could not address any other possibilities in her Nov. 28 presentation. This time, the same Seaforth community group has suggested moving Grades 7 and 8 students from Seaforth Public School into SDHS, thereby alleviating 'the declining enrolment at the high school and eliminating the need for portable classrooms at the elementary facility. Director of Education Lorne Rachlis, however, told the meeting that Campbell was welcome to address any possibility. He then invited her to return to a regular Avon Maitland meeting to appear as a public delegation. Agar showed her experience with doing just that — appearing before the board —. by handling several key questions from trustees following her presentation. Asked by Stratford Trustee Rod Brown if the salvation of SDHS is the only reason Seaforth stands out among Huron and Perth communities for its support of putting Grades 7 and 8 students in secondary schools, she said, "each community has its own feelings. "With what used to be the science wing in the high school-, we think it would be an ideal situation to have a separate wing.for the Grades 7 and 8s, where they can get the specialized learning but still be separated from the rest of the students." However, she agreed such a move could stop what has been a recent "drain" of students from SDHS, who have' gone to other school boards or other Avon Maitland schools in search of wider educational opportunities and less uncertainty. Agar called it "a big circle," in which students leave because they see a wider range of courses at another school, then the board cuts specialized programs because there . aren't enough students to offer them at SDHS. "The constant thi eat of closure has driven students from our school," she said. Re verse that circle — by adjusting boundaries, specializing into such areas as an agricultural cooperative program, or keeping SDHS as the board's only semestered high school in hopes of attracting part-timc4tudents, and the school could be saved.