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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2002-10-30, Page 7IVES INSURANCE BROKERS LTD. Visit us at: WWWIVESINSURANCE.COM "All Classes of Insurance" DOUG GOUGH, Broker 184 Dinsley St. W., Blyth Tel.: (519) 523-9655 Fax: (519) 523-9793 They're oft' Students from the Central Huron schools participated in the annual cross-country meet at Hullett Central Public School last Wednesday. (Bonnie Gropp photo) Good news, bad news for bd. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2002. PAGE 7. United Church decorated for tour Continued from page 1 Just a few decades have passed since the home now owned by Pierre and Marie Rammeloo was built at 72 Krauter Court. A unique structure with a partial half-storey the home has been recently remodelled and decorated by the owners. With an eye for design and colour, Marie has created an open-concept with a traditional decor. It will be decorated for the home tour by Nifty Korners, Seaforth. There will be refreshments served at the Brussels Utiited Church, located next door to the manse. The church will be decorated • for the occasion by Just For You, Brussels. There will also be an opportunity to win many door prizes donated by local businesses. Tickets are $10 and are available by calling 887-9340 or 887-9051. The tour runs from 7-9 p.m. on the Friday and from 1-4 pi m. Saturday and Sunday. By. Stew Slater Special to The Citizen An easing of restrictions on the way school boards provide space for special education students could put as much as $107,000 back into the 2002-03 budget' of the Avon Maitland District School Board. But the change could also create — on paper, at least — more so- called "empty pupil spaces," thereby decreasing the amount of money the board is eligible for under the province's per-pupil educational funding formula. The board's administrator of planning and accommodation, Phil McCotter, says he learned about the change at a meeting with education ministry staff in early October. At the time, school board officials were informed that they no longer had to provide paperwork showing they had a dedicated special education teaching space in each school with 10 or more classrooms. In compliance with the previous MADD elects new exec The MADD Huron/Bruce board of directors announced the new executive. Laurie Dinning of Wingham assumed the president's position; Jim Dore, also of Wingham, is the new vice-president. Dinning has been involved with the local chapter since its inception in 1995 and Dore has been a board director since 1999. Brenda Carey of Blyth was elected as the chapter's secretary and Barb Rintoul of Lucknow was reinstalled as the treasurer. The MADD Huron/Bruce Chapter would also like to thank Sandra J. Lee and Dwayne Evans, Past Co- Presidents, for their leadership over the past two years. They implemented many new ideas to achieve MADD Canada's mission "to stop impaired driving and support victims of this violent crime". , Both will continue as active board members. The MADD Huron/Bruce chapter can be reached by calling 519-357- 4552 or visiting the website at www.hurontel.on.ca/—maddhb requirement, McCotter explained, the capacity rating for those dedicated classrooms was for only nine students, which is the number mandated by the government for special education rooms. But several of those schools don't house any special education classes, and the room — with an official capacity of nine — actually contained a full compliment of 24 or more students. This artificially pushed the school's official overall capacity downwards. And, with the actual enrolment taken into account, it created the impression the school was closer to 100 per cent capacity than was actually the case. A small number of other Avon Maitland schools, meanwhile, contain more than one special education class, but the overall capacity of those schools only reflected one of those classrooms. In these cases, because the special education classes housed significantly fewer students than the provincially-mandated total of 24.5, the previous arrangement meant the school's overall capacity rating was artificially inflated. With the change, every special education classroom will be rated for nine students, while schools without any such classes won't be required to artificially include one. According to McCotter, the Avon By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen Concern was expressed about the ability of a construction company to meet its own financial estimate while conducting masonry work at Goderich District High School (GDCI), but trustees of the Avon Maitland District School Board eventually approved a bid from Smith Construction. The company provided the lowest of four estimates for the repair of exterior walls on GDCI's cafeteria and music room, which were originally the gymnasium in the building's 1954 wing. "We've had significant deterioration over the past few years," explained the board's Business Superintendent, Janet Maitland board's $107,000 windfall comes from the fact that schools will now be eligible for a greater amount of money under the ministry's so- called "top-up" program. The top-up is provided to schools which aren't at 100 per cent capacity, to replace the money for ,maintenance which would come on a per-pupil basis if the school was full. The further downward the school's enrolment slips away from 100 per.cent capacity, the more top- up is made available. Therefore, with the capacity rating of schools no longer being artificially deflated, more top-up money comes to the board. The flip side, however, is that top- up funding stops increasing when enrolment falls to 80 per cent of capacity.- Thereafter, any costs associated with maintaining empty pupil spaces must be taken from elsewhere in the budget. A report from board staff, delivered at' a regular Oct. 22 meeting, includes the statement that "approximately 40 per cent of the board's schools (were) occupied at less than 80 per cent in September, 2002." And McCotter admitted others may slip below 80 per cent threshold as a result of the change. "So we gain top-up funding, but we also gain a whole lot of empty pupil spaces," commented Stratford trustee Rod Brown, after asking Baird-Jackson, while delivering a report on the tendering process during a regular meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 22. East Perth trustee Wendy Anderson wondered why the Smith Construction bid of $140,438 was about $35,000 less than the second lowest bid, and more than $75,000 less than the highest offer. "Are we sure that we can get this done at this pricing'?" she asked. Baird-Jackson responded that board officials revisited the offer with Smith Construction, and were assured that the work could be completed at that price. She noted the company employs a couple of Goderich residents, and their proximity to the job site was a factor in the bid. may.. r Air -ic`ir Central Huron NOTICE OF PASSING OF BYLAW 45-2002 TO CHANGE THE WARD BOUNDARIES OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CENTRAL HURON TAKE NOTICE that the Council of the Corporation of the Municipality of Central Huron has passed Bylaw 45-2002 on the 21st day of October, 2002 pursuant to Section 13 of the Municipal Act; RSO, 1990 as amended. The purpose of the bylaw is to change the ward boundaries for the Municipality of Central Huron for the next term of Council. AND TAKE NOTICE that any person may appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board in respect of the bylaw by filing with the Clerk of the Municipality of Central Huron, not later than 4:30 p.m. on the 19th day of NoVember, 2002; a notice of appeal setting out the objection to the bylaw and the reasons in support of the objection, accompanied by payment of the fee prescribed under the Ontario Municipal Board Act. The amount of the fee payable is $125.00. AN EXPLANATION of the purpose and effect of the bylaw is described below. The complete bylaw is available for inspection at the Municipal Office during regular office hours. Dated at the Municipality of Central Huron this 23rd day of October, 2002. Richard Harding, Clerk Administrator Municipality of Central Huron 23 Albert Street, Box 400 CLINTON, ON NOM 1L0 Ph: (519) 482-3997 Fax: (519) 482-9183 PURPOSE AND EFFECT: 1. That Wards Two (former Hullett Township) and Ward Three (former Town of Clinton) be merged in their entirety to create a new ward. This ward will be known as the East Ward. 2. That Ward 1 (former Goderich Township) remain in its entirety and be renamed and be known as the West Ward. 3. The total number of members of Council, in addition to the Reeve and Deputy Reeve shall be six. 4. The distribution of the members of Council among the Wards of the Municipality shall be as follows: East Ward - 3 Councillors West Ward - 3 Councillors 5. The Reeve and Deputy Reeve shall continue to be elected at large. Trustees approve bid