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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2000-12-20, Page 7THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2000. PAGE 7. School board chair challenges province By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen Newly re-elected Avon Maitland District School Board chair Wendy Anderson issued challenges to the provincial government in her inau gural address Wednesday, Dec. 13. She called for increased support for new curriculum initiatives, better programming for “students who achieve at a basic level,” and the pro vision of a more stable labour envi ronment that would both allow a res olution to the crisis in extra-curricu lar activities and encourage the negotiation of longer-term labour deals. “The amount of time that is required to reach a one-year settle ment is totally unacceptable, when a three-year deal could be reached in the same time,” Anderson said. She also issued challenges to school boards in general, to pick up the torch of the Education Improvement Commission (EIC), an arms-length committee of govern ment appointees which recently released its final report and isn’t expected to continue. Though Anderson admitted the EIC some times overstepped what she original ly thought was its mandate, and was often ignored by the government which established it, she still called the commission “the conscience of the ministry,” and urged school boards to continue its work. There was also a challenge, how ever, for the trustees of her own board, six of whom are new to the post. Though she explained she had been pleasantly surprised during two previous orientation sessions — so much so that she now looks more optimistically upon the coming three years than had previously been the case — she cautioned that trustees must support the decisions of the board once votes have been cast. “Decisions democratically reached by the board must be supported in every way possible,” Anderson said in her address. Following the meeting, Anderson explained she wasn’t suggesting trustees can’t disagree with board- approved policy, nor that they can’t express such opposition in public. She says such dissension is unavoid able, and counts herself among those who have disagreed with certain board positions. But she says trustees must know the reasons why other board mem bers supported the decision, and be able to explain those reasons to members of the public. “I guess I said that because we have a lot of new trustees and not all of them are necessarily aware of this,” Anderson said. “It doesn’t hurt to remind them of those things.” One of those new trustees, Seaforth-area representative Charles Smith, is expected to vote contrary to the board on a regular basis, judging from his recent work against the board’s attempt to close Seaforth District High School. Indeed, in the regular board meeting which imme diately followed the inaugural ses sion, Smith cast the lone dissenting vote on two of three approved deci sions. Following the meeting, Smith said he was “disappointed” with the over all tone of Anderson’s inaugural address — citing what he said were predictable criticisms of the provin cial government — but added he respected her intention that all trustees should be aware of the rea sons why board decisions received majority support. Still, he cautioned that he would not insulate the public from his own opinions. “You can go on the public record saying you disagree with (board decisions),” he said. “That’s part of the democratic process. “I will resist the inclination of some people to herd me. I don’t think we need a bunch of rubber stamping votes.” School’s cabinetry to be recycled Five-year-old cabinetry from the recently-closed Vanastra Commun ity School is being recycled by the Avon Maitland District School Board, with much of the material moving to a new library and resource centre at Howick Central Public School. “We believed we wouldn’t have gotten any more money for (the sale of) Vanastra with or without the mill work, so we decided it would be best to keep it and re-use it somewhere else,” said Avon Maitland Superintendent of Business Janet Baird-Jackson. The Avon Maitland official could n’t specify the value of the recycled material, which was part of a renova tion at Vanastra five years ago. But she says the recycling initiative will save the board beyond the obvious elimination of the need for new cab inetry. She also notes that skilled tradespeople who build cabinets are often busy, and the need for new cab inetry can lead to delays in such proj ects. Baird-Jackson presented trustees with a tendering recommendation for the Howick project during a regular board meeting Wednesday, Dec. 13. The lowest bid for the addition and renovation to the RR1, Gorrie school was valued at $283,015. Work is expected to begin over the Christmas holidays, and Baird- Jackson notes that the board hopes to have as much of the recycled materi al removed from the former Vanastra school before the real estate deal closes later this month. A small amount of material has already been reconstructed in Brookside Public School at RR7, Lucknow, and the rest is expected to be sufficient to completely outfit the new resource centre at Howick. In a strange development, Baird- Jackson didn’t reveal the names of the four contractors because board I staff had, so far, been unable to I obtain satisfactory reference checks I on the lowest bidder. The recommen- I dation for trustees suggested accept- ■ ing the low bid pending those refer ence checks, then going to the next lowest bid if that wasn’t possible. The next lowest bid was valued at $286,750, and board officials explained satisfactory references have already been obtained for that contractor. Newly-elected Stratford trustee Rod Brown wondered if the board shouldn’t disregard the low bid, since the difficulty in securing satis factory reference checks might already point in the direction of questionable quality. When pressed, Baird-Jackson admitted two refer ences for the company had already been received, with one stating they would “never use” the contractor again, and the other stating the work was “okay.” That was the reason further checks were being made, she suggested. In the end, however, Brown sup ported the motion. GOING. ALMMS GOING? feu couW be at risk for diabetes. CANADIAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION I DU DIABETE ASSOCIATION CANAOIENNE CALL 1-8OO-BANTING TOWNSHIP OF NORTH HURON CITIZEN VOLUNTEERS REQUIRED The Township of North Huron is in need of volunteers to sit on various Boards and Committees serving the three Wards of Blyth, East Wawanosh and Wingham. Members are required for: Wingham & Area Economic Development Committee Wingham Museum Board Wingham Municipal Airport Commission Wingham & Area Fire Board North Huron Wescast Community Complex Committee Wingham Waste Management Committee Westario Power Corporation North Huron Police Services Board Blyth & District Community Centre Board Blyth & District Fire Area Board Blyth-Hullett Landfill Site Board Blyth Union Cemetery Committee Blyth Brook Community Greenway Committee Blyth Memorial Community Hall Board Belgrave Community Centre Board Auburn Community Hall Board Blyth/East Wawanosh/Wingham Water Works Committee of Adjustment Property Standards Committee If you are interested in any of these positions, applications will be received by the Town of Wingham Municipal Office until December 29, 2000. If we are unable to use your name at this time it will be held on file for future consideration. 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