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The Citizen's 2002
will be published February 6, 2002
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THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2002. PAGE 7.
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
Though she has served through
three incarnations of the . Avon
Maitland District School Board, and
despite the fact the board's current
membership includes one of her
harshest critics, recently-replaced
chair Wendy Anderson cited the
election of the current board as one
of the top three highlights of her
three years as chair.
Anderson, who was replaced as
chair in December by Colleen
Schenk, delivered farewell com-
ments during the board's regular
meeting Tuesday, Jan. 22. At the
time of her replacement, Anderson
commented that she had been sur-
prised by Schenk's intention to seek
the chair, and had, therefore, not
thought to prepare any farewell
remarks.
Jan. 22, with Schenk scheduled to
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
With supporters of Holmesville
Public School seeking to convince
Avon Maitland District School Board
trustees about the possibility of pop-
ulation growth in the area surround-
ing the school, the point couldn't
have been driven home more clearly
. than by Melissa Peterson.
"These younger families are grow-
ing. I'm living proof," said Peterson
in a last-minute public delegation at a
regular board meeting Tuesday, Jan.
22. Since Peterson is pregnant with
her first child, the comment elicited
chuckles from trustees, who had ear-
lier voted unanimously to allow
Peterson to speak despite the fact she
had applied to make a delegation
after the normal deadline.
The potential closure of
Holmesville was also the subject of
two other delegations, out of a total
of five. Each urged the board to
reconsider its current projections for
growth for the Municipality of
Central Huron and the former
Goderich Twp. Several Central
Huron councillors stood in the audi-
ence in support of fellow-councillor
and presenter Carol Mitchell as she
Continued from page 1
also has a child in- Grade 9, but
another child is already in universi-
ty. She wonders how her younger
child will fare when it comes time
for prospective post-secondary insti-
tutions to evaluate high school
-narks to determine if one new-cur-
iculum student qualifies for certain
mograms ahead of other students.
She noted there seems to be no
;ystem available through which to
ank students, making it difficult for
tudents to determine what to strive
or in their goal of being accepted
nto certain post-secondary pro-
rams.
Webster could offer no firm
nswer.
"I ask-,,that question of people
-om universities every time I meet
'ith them," he said, following the
ieeting. "I think it's a real prob-
mu."
But he suggested post-secondary
istitutions will soon be forced by
present a gift to Anderson on behalf
of the board, the past-chair came
prepared with a speech.
"Being the chairperson of the
board is a golden opportunity to
serve the community, an opportunity
that allows you to test yourself," she
explained.
However, she also labelled the job
as "a tremendous responsibility
which no one can fully understand
until they have been there."
"It can be overwhelming. It can be
quite a ride."
Still, she decided not to mention
any of what she called "low-lights"
of her tenure, even though one of
those — the often controversial
process leading to a decision to close
five schools in 2000 — dominated
an entire year of the board's activi-
ties and culminated in a successful
court challenge against the board by
supporters of Seaforth District High
School.
sought "to express how vital our
schools are to the very fabric of our
community."
Citing the recent approval of slot
machines for Clinton's racetrack, she
said, "we expect increased growth
(in the former Goderich Twp). In
fact, we think we could increase our
household count by more than 300 in
the next five years."
Peterson, while highlighting what
she sees as safety and student
achievement benefits available at
Holmesville, also continued with the
theme of potential growth. She
reminded trustees about the possible
amalgamation/relocation of the
Goderich and Clinton hospitals,
which could directly affect the
area.
Other speakers, represented
Seaforth District High School and
Goderich's Robertson Memorial
Public School. All three schools are
listed for potential closure — along
with two Stratford elementary
schools —. pending a trustee vote
scheduled for Feb. 26.
Four speakers urged the board to
defer any decisions on school clo-
sures until the. effects are_more clear-
ly known of a variety of factors.
These include the ongoing provincial
circumstances to develop their own
way of assessing students under the
altered system, or be caught short.
Education Superintendent
Marjatta Longston agrees.
"If the whole province is (using
the new system), they're going to
have to figure it out."
"I'm pretty sure that the low-lights
would be the same for any school
board across the province that has
undergone amalgamation and is
dealing with the realities of student-
based funding," the past-chair
explained.
Instead, to conclude her approxi-
mately three-minute speech, she
offered three "highlights": the
process of amalgamating the "prede-
cessor" Huron and Perth County
school boards into the Avon
Maitland District School Board; the
creation of the current slate of senior
staff expertise; and the election of
the current nine-member board of
trustees.
Addressing the trustees, including
often-critical Huron East representa-
tive Charles Smith, Anderson
thanked them for their "thoughtful-
ness and genuine concern" through-
out her tenure, and for recent words
of appreciation.
Conservative leadership race, the
effects of the so-called "double
cohort" created by the graduation of
the first students to complete the new
four-year high school curriculum,
and a review of the provincial educa-
tion funding formula, which is legis-
lated to take place in 2003 but has
not yet been announced.
"These points alone suggest defer-
ral is the appropriate option," said
Robertson school council co-chair
Shawn Johnson, after listing the
three factors.
Shelley Kaastra, who called herself
"the emotional one" among the
organized group fighting to save
Holmesville, held her emotions in
check through much of a well-rea-
soned presentation. But the stress of
potential closure was more evident
near the end of her delegation, when
she told trustees she would prefer to
fight the provincial government for
change, but instead all her time is
being taken by a fight for her own
school's survival.
"The problem is not in this room.
The problem is an inadequate fund-
ing formula," Kaastra said.
"Therefore, let us stop fighting you
for our schools, and start fighting
with you for change."
Milk has it all
Huron Dairy Educator Tammy Sparling was at East
Wawanosh Public School last week. The Gradel class
learned of milk's benefits through the education program
supported by the Dairy Farmers of Ontario. The session
brought lots of questions and the pudding lots of "yums".
(David Blaney photo)
Anderson praises trustees
Trustee sees lack
of ranking system
Parent presents her case
for Holmesville Public
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