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The Citizen, 2000-11-22, Page 11THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2000. PAGE 11. Elementary teachers, AMDSB ratify agreement By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen While provincial legislators wres tled last week with the prospect of forcing elementary teachers in a Hamilton-area school board back to work from a strike/lockout, the Avon Maitland District School Board and its elementary teachers reached a new collective agreement. Avon Maitland trustees unani mously approved the deal during the closed session of the board’s regular meeting Tuesday, Nov. 14. The Avon Maitland local of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario Policy may bring back extracurriculars By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen Officials of the Avon Maitland District School Board hope the revi sion of a policy dealing with volun teers will facilitate the return of at least some extracurricular activities to public secondary schools in Huron and Perth Counties. Superintendent of Education Bill Gerth, who chaired a recent board- sponsored “stakeholders’ meeting” about extracurricular activities, pre sented a report to trustees at the board’s regular meeting Tuesday, Nov. 14. It reiterated this year’s lack of sports, drama, social and other activ ities, due to increased teacher workload, and outlined the action being taken in the wake of the meet ing. First on the list is a revision of “Standard Operating Procedure No. 73,” to allow community volun teers to supervise extracurricular activities in the schools, without the presence of an Avon Maitland staff member. “There are other changes, but the most significant change is that, pre viously, the procedure did not allow community volunteers to be involved with student activities unless they had some element of supervision from our staff,” Gerth explained. “We’re now working to change that procedure to allow volunteers, School bd. debates effectiveness of school liaison committee By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen The second-to-last meeting of the outgoing trustees of the Avon Maitland District School Board, Tuesday, Nov. 14, was enlivened by discussions about the effectiveness — or lack thereof — of a committee charged with providing communica tion between the board and parent groups at its schools. “I’m quite sure that the new trustees will find, as I have found, that a lot of parents are calling them wondering who is this committee?” said Central Huron representative Abby Armstrong, referring to the School Council Liaison Committee. (ETFO) followed suit on Friday, Nov. 17, ratifying the one-year pact. The deal includes a pay raise of 2.5 per cent effective Sept. 1, 2000, with an additional 1.57 per cent effective June, 2001. According to Alma Westlake, president of the ETFO local, this allows the board to include a larger pay raise, but separate it into two dif ferent budget years. And Avon Maitland Director of Education Lome Rachlis described the June increase as an attempt “to prepare for the subsequent collective agree ment,” after this deal draws to a close Aug. 31, 2001. Also included in the deal are alter- where appropriate, to act in a super visory role.” Gerth admitted, however, that it’s unrealistic to expect the number of extracurricular activities to return to last year’s level. Even with the pro cedural change, he cautioned, “it doesn’t appear that there’s going to be a significant resumption ... in the near future.” Perth South trustee Maggie Laprade, however, praised the move, noting many individuals currently act in supervisory roles for such community groups as minor hockey associations. Still, she urged the board to follow the example of such organizations by seeking well-quali fied volunteers, such as those with provincial coaching certification or those who had taken first aid cours es. Central Huron trustee Abby Armstrong wondered about the insurance implications of the revi sion, but Gerth assured her that the board’s insurance policy allows for supervision by community volun teers. Other actions to be taken by the board include an exploration of com munity group activities and the for mation of a task force of school administrators. That task force will discuss such issues as the provision of a mandato ry minimum extra-curricular pro gram in each high school and “the possible incorporation, where appropriate, of extracurricular-type Armstrong, along with six other trustees, will step down following the next regular board meeting, Tuesday, Nov. 28. She will be replaced by acclaimed candidate Charles Smith, who has been a faith ful spectator at board meetings since he spearheaded a successful cam paign to save Seaforth District High School from closure last year. On Nov. 14, newly-elected trustees from West Perth and Stratford joined Smith in the visitors’ seating. They watched as the existing board considered, for the second time in just over a month, a School Council Liaison Committee recom mendation for a change in regional Continued on page 22 ations in average class sizes to adhere to new provincially-legislat ed requirements, as well as provi sions for a “pilot arrangement” offer ing supplemental professional devel opment opportunities for the board’s elementary teachers. Westlake says the union bargained for the additional professional devel opment time, adding the negotiated arrangement gives its members more “ownership” over the programs. But she noted the arrangement of addi tional time, which will not be includ ed into regular working schedules, should also save the board from hav ing to hire more permanent or part- time teachers. activities within the curricular pro gram.” Following the meeting, Gerth admitted some serious impediments to the resumption of extra-curricular activities remain in place. Most significantly, many teachers are still unwilling to return to their supervisory duties because of an increased instructional workload brought on by the Ontario legisla ture’s passing of Bill 74 last spring. Gerth agreed teachers remain frus trated by the situation. And in the case of sports, the absence of staff members during competitions is currently prohibited in the constitutions of all three levels of high school athletics in the province — the Huron-Perth confer ence, the Western Ontario associa tion, and the Ontario-wide group. Gerth called this reality “a potential ly significant impediment to regular league play,” but noted exhibition schedules could be arranged if a community coach is recruited for a team. And, he added, extracurricular activities stretch far beyond sports, into such areas as drama, music, yearbooks, student council activities or games. “We’re going to see the return of some of those activities, but we’re going to go slow,” Gerth said. “What we don’t want is to upset the teach- FOR SALE - Used self-propelled Yardman snowblower in excellent condition, with canvass protector 887-6851. You might need it this winter! “By doing this and not working it into the regular timetable, it allows the classroom coverage to be done by occasional teachers, which means the cost is less for the board,” Westlake said. According to a media release issued Monday by the board, a com mittee has also been struck “to review the impact of increasing ben efits costs and options for future con sideration.” Rachlis says committee members are drawn from both board staff and teacher representatives. The rising cost of employee bene fit packages was discussed at a recent meeting of the Avon Maitland Board’s Catholic counterpart, the ers unnecessarily, because we recog nize they have an important role to play here. And we want to try and make sure that we don’t make any mistakes.” *-* * *■* M-*** it **■* * * * X- * jf- * * jf- * jf- * jf- * jf- * * jf- * X- * Rice's Work wear Plus 11 Victoria St., Clinton (Hullett Location Closed) 482-8709 C/UiAtma* Shopping. Jta.de. Caag. 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Rachlis agrees it’s an increasingly problematic issue and, though he says consultations on such questions are often included in col lective agreements, the inclusion of a benefits committee in last week’s elementary teachers’ deal signifies the importance of rising insurance costs. In explaining the climbing costs, he pointed to insurance rate hikes, rising healthcare costs, and the fact some portions of benefits packages are tied to salaries, which also tend to increase. But he also criticized the province’s education ministry for not recognizing these pressures while deciding how much funding to make available. “We get all our money through the provincial funding formula, and if the funding formula is not adjusted to take rising costs into account, we have to do things differently, or we have to take money away from something else,” Rachlis said. Thank You I would like to thank the people who voted for me in Ward M "Morris Your kindness was very much appreciated. Robert (Bert) Elliott