The Citizen, 2002-02-27, Page 1[NORTH HURON PUBUSHING COMPANY INC
Inside this week
Councils hash over
Pb' NMP draft bylaw
Brussels PeeWees Pg. 10 win WOAA
Brussels hosts Pg. curling bonspiel
Only 4 survivors Pg. 14 remain
Pg. 24 gDoalig producers get
Moving forward to look back
Doug Scrimgeour, left, chair of the Blyth Greenway committee and Phil Beard, general
manager of the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority, examine the mini-museum for the
Greenway, now being constructed by the MVCA at its Wroxeter workshop. The unit is the first
of seven displays of the village's history planned for sites around Blyth. (Keith Roulston photo)
SDHS one of three still on list
The Citizen
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ESTABLISHED 1877 •
Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2002 Volume 18 No. 8
Mitchell
seeks
Liberal
nod
Carol Mitchell has set her sights on
leading the Huron-Bruce Liberals
into the next provincial election.
Mitchell brings seven years of
experience in
municipal politics
to the table in her
goal of earning
the Liberal
nomination. She
served as both
councillor, and
reeve for. the
Town of Clinton,
and was twice
elected Huron
Carol Mitchell County warden, in
1999 and 2000. Mitchell was the first
warden elected for two terms in over
100 years. She was also elected as
the first reeve for the Municipality of
Central Huron, a position which she
currently holds.
Self-employed for a decade before
entering politics, Mitchell said she
knows what it takes to make a
business work.
She also recognizes the issues that
are important to the communities of
Huron-Bruce. "The challenges we
face in Huron-Bruce Counties are
numerous - healthcare, education,
pressure on farming and business
small and large," sffe said.
Apart from recognizing those
challenges, she is also prepared to
face them head on. "I am prepared to
meet the challenges of our
communities and I am ready to speak
out for Huron-Bruce."
Born and raised in Huron County,
Mitchell and her husband Larry are
the proud parents of two daughters,
one a Grade 8 student in Clinton and
the other at St. Lawrence College.
The Mitchells make their home in
Clinton.
With her experience, Mitchell said
she believes she has what it takes to
stand as the Liberal tibminee for the
Huron-Bruce riding.
"Experience and leadership is what
I offer the people of Huron-Bruce. I
intend to speak fof the people of
Huron-Bruce," she said.
Museums
one step
closer
With construction nearing
completion for the prototype of
Blyth's mini-museums, the project
has taken a giant step from concept
toward reality.
Workers at Maitland Valley
Conservation Authority have
constructed the combination park
bench and display area that will tell
the history of the Blyth Greenway.
It's the model for other displays
throughout Blyth that will tell the
history of the village.
With the first mini-museum built
the challenge is to find the money to
build the displays and collect the
material to put in them, said Keith
Roulston, chair of the committee that
has come together to put Blyth's
history on display.
A fundraising campaign, headed
by Lynda Lentz-McGregor will kick
off shortly with a goal to raise
$25,000 for six displays on historic
sites.
• Meanwhile, Roulston said, the
committee is still looking for
photographs and other momentoes of
the village's history, particularly
from the two railways, the flax mill
and the village's military history.
"We know there were many
wonderful photographs that came
out in 1977 for publication in The
Standard's centennial issue and
Blyth: A Village Portrait that we
haven't been able to locate,"
Roulston said. "We hope people will
search their attics and closets and
help us create an exciting record of
Blyth's history."
The concept of the mini-museums,
which has caught the imagination of
several museum experts, is to create
a showcase of the village's history as
part of a walking tour of the village
without creating the expense of
maintaining a museum where staff
must be hired. It would be the first
such display in the province.
OPP
investigate
hit and run
Police are investigating a hit and
run collision which occurred on
Londesboro Road in Hullett around
midnight Feb. 20.
A 15-year-old was taken to Sick
Children's Hospital in London,
where his condition on Friday was
listed as serious, but stable.
According to the police two
youths were walking east in the
westbound lane near the centre of
the road. The mirror of an eastbound
truck struck one of the youths,
Richard McKinnon, in the head.
The driver did not stop.
Police said it was raining at the
time of the crash and there was a
slight fog. Both youths were
wearing dark coloured clothing.
The OPP are asking the public to
contact them if they can provide any
information which might identify
the driver. Police say there would be
damage to the driver's side mirror
and window.
Contact police at 524-8314 or
Crime Stoppers at 1-888-310-1122.
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
A final report on potential student
accommodation changes in the Avon
Maitland District School Board, to
be voted upon last night (Tuesday,
Feb. 26) by trustees, differed
significantly from what was
originally proposed, but still
recommended the closure of three
elementary schools and one
secondary school.
Saved from the closure list was
Robertson Memorial Public School
in Goderich. Students at Seaforth
Public School, meanwhile, will no
longer be asked to relocate to the
building currently occupied by both
Seaforth District High School
(SDHS) and the Avon Maitland
administrative offices.
Pending approval of the new
recommendations, SDHS will still
be closed, but that portion of the
building — the majority — will be
"taken out of service."
In the case of Robertson, the
school had, in fact, been removed
from the original list of possible
closures prior to the release of a staff
report which was debated over a
marathon, two-night meeting Dec.
11-12.
However, just before trustees were
set to approve that list, Goderich-
area trustee Butch Desjardins
received majority support -for
removing the nearby rural-based
Colborne Central Public School
from the list, and replacing it with its
town-based counterpart. Desjardins'
motion suggested Robertson
students would relocate to the
board's other Goderich-based
elementary school, Victoria, with the
probable necessity of five new
classrooms at the remaining facility.
In explaining Robertson's ultimate
removal from the list, last night's
staff report cited, among other
factors, "detailed estimates" of the
one-time costs for the Victoria
addition, "a final financial analysis
(which) predicts annual savings that
are less than originally expected,"
and "a more conservative
assumption regarding staffing."
Remaining on the list for last
night's vote — as they had been
since the Dec. 11 report — were
SDHS, Holmesville Public School,
and two Stratford elementary
schools: Juliet and King Lear.
In the case of Holmesville, "a•new
boundary is proposed . . .
approximately along the existing
secondary boundary between
Goderich District Collegiate
Institute (GDCI) and (Clinton's)
Central Huron Secondary School
(CHSS). Students residing north and
west of that boundary would attend
Colborne Public School while those
residing south and east will attend
Clinton Public School. Students
residing in Holmesville will attend
Clinton Public School."
In Stratford, all city Grades 7 and
8 students will relocate to either of
the city's two secondary schools.
King Lear currently houses only
Grades 7 and 8 students and will,
therefore, become unnecessary,
while the remainder of Juliet's
students will be accommodated
75 Cents (70c + 5c GST)
elsewhere.
Justification for the recommended
closure of SDHS, and relocation of
students to CHSS, comes largely in
the form of predictions about the
difficulty of providing a full range of
new-curriculum programming to a
high school (SDHS) of less than 300
students.
"It will be very difficult for SDHS
to offer sufficient program choice to
enable a student to graduate without
a significant overlay of teachers
and/or significant stacking of classes
— having two or more courses
taught by the same teacher in the
same period," the report argues.
Reasons for backing off on the
proposed relocation of Seaforth
Public School are apparently
financial-based, including an
estimated $650,000 Cost for
renovations at the SDHS building.
"Moving the students from
Seaforth Public School into (the high
school building) would generate
minimal savings," the report states.
"Given concerns regarding
inadequate revenues and the
anticipated challenge of bringing
forward a balanced budget, such an
expenditure is not considered
timely."
Contained within the analysis of
each closure option are suggestions
of where accommodation can be
made for the various community-
based activities which take place
inside or on the grounds of each
school..
Immediately prior ta the analysis
of the various options is a brief
Continued on page 6